


Queen of the Highway

by sevensistersofsussex



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-27 06:35:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 75,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30118659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevensistersofsussex/pseuds/sevensistersofsussex
Summary: A father's love is complicated and sometimes it isn't enough, but even so, John Gilbert knows his own daughter. So, when Katherine Pierce slinks into the family kitchen, he knows she isn't his daughter. With Katherine out of the way, the Gilberts leave Mystic Falls forever to run from the threat of Klaus Mikaelson. But what happens, years later, when he finds Elena anyway?
Relationships: Alaric Saltzman/Jenna Sommers, Bonnie Bennett/Damon Salvatore, Caroline Forbes/Stefan Salvatore, Elena Gilbert/Klaus Mikaelson
Comments: 67
Kudos: 69





	1. Hear My Train A Comin’

**Author's Note:**

> AU diverged at the end of season 1 where John is a competent dad, mainly taking place ten years later.

_Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010_

Jenna had never particularly enjoyed Founder’s Day. Town events were a duty that she fulfilled, but this year with so much work piling up with school she’d had much rather stayed home. The stress of the day had her pacing the living room waiting for her niece to come home. She was determined to be a good guardian and prove to her sister that she was the better decision over John Gilbert. The porch creaked outside and Jenna heard the muffled voices of Elena and, she assumed, Stefan. Much to her shock, she opened the front door to Elena kissing Stefan’s older brother, Damon. Her shock subsided into annoyance as she cleared her throat. 

“Elena? Inside. Now please.”

Once the door was closed and Jenna was sure that Damon had left their house, she turned sharply on Elena. 

“What are you doing?” she asked incredulously. 

Elena sighed and spun on her heels until she was facing Jenna. “I don’t want to talk about.” 

Her words seemed to float in the air before Jenna realized she was halfway up the stairs. Teen angst was normal, but Elena and Jenna had been so close since Grayson and Miranda had died. Jeremy had been the troubled one and Elena had helped Jenna out so much with him. 

Jenna walked into the kitchen, brows furrowed and head slowly shaking. Her least favorite Gilbert was posted up at the kitchen island, checking his phone. “Is this going to turn into a habit with you? You can’t just be here whenever you want.” She was looking for someone to exercise her frustrations on and she found the perfect target, John. 

He looked up from his phone, “I still have a key.” 

She took up the seat across from him. “Ugh, remind me to change the locks then.” She immediately felt guilty. Sure, John was the worst but it was also his brother who died. “Sorry, it’s just that Elena is not really acting like herself. She adores Stefan and I can’t really fathom why she would be making out with his brother, hot or not,” she whispered. “She’s just not that person. But I guess grief makes you do some wild stuff,” she shrugged. She stood up and gave John a pat on the shoulder. “Good talk. You are such a big help with..,” she gestured all around, “all this family stuff. I’ll see you in the morning.”

* * *

John barely registered Jenna leaving the kitchen. He was still caught up on Elena kissing the older Salvatore. He rifled through his bag, adjusted and tucked his shirt in, and then walked toward the fridge to grab a glass of water. When he went to close the door, there was Elena. His heart jumped in his chest. “You scared me.” He was met with an apathetic apology. He opened up to her about Isobel, a tactic. “You know, I first met Isobel when I was just a kid. Fell in love with her right away, though I’m not sure she ever felt the same way.” 

Elena stayed silent, her dark eyes watching him as he continued. 

“She was special. She was something else really. Part of why I hate vampires so much is what they took from her, just everything that made her wonderful. I would have never sent her to Damon had I known what she wanted from him. It’s my fault,” he edged closer to her. “I hope you can understand.” He walked closer, noticing how he seemed to toy with the knives instead of just putting them away from the rack. 

Her eyes followed him, neutral and assessing. She thanked him and he bit the inside of his cheek. 

He nodded and smiled, “Can I help?” He couldn’t hear what she said next as his focus was on her blatant glance down to his family ring. As she grabbed the knife and raised it up, John reached around his waist with his left hand, leaving his right on the chopping block, a necessary sacrifice. The blade slicing through his fingers hurt, but he was already inches from her heart when the pain hit him and he couldn’t stop now. With his left hand he shoved the stake through her heart and his bloody right hand swung around to hold her back, allowing him enough leverage to ensure that he reached his intended target. 

Katherine gasped and looked up at John with Elena’s eyes. He laid her down on the tile and winced as he pulled his hand out from under her, leaving a trail of his own blood behind. Her face, his daughter’s face, grew grey as dark veins pulsed and transformed her features. He looked at her and almost felt bad. 

“I may be a shit dad, but I’m still her father,” he spoke triumphantly to no one in particular, or maybe that was meant for himself. As he stood up, the adrenaline of the moment ebbed and could feel every ounce of pain. He grabbed a tea towel from the counter and ruined it as he applied pressure. The front door opened and Elena was finally home, unaware of the horrors that waited for her in the kitchen or upstairs in Jeremy’s room. 

* * *

The rest of the night was a blur of blood, tears, and vomit. Elena found John frantically clutching at his hand and asking her not to look behind the island. She shot a quick text to Stefan to get his help with Katherine’s body. She ran upstairs to get Jeremy and Jenna, when she was confronted with her worst fear. Jeremy was slumped on his bed, unresponsive to her pleas to get up. Jenna had shot up in bed, woken up by John’s screams but too afraid to move. It wasn’t until she heard Elena wailing that her courage found her and she ran into Jeremy’s room. 

There is something about other people’s panic that instills a kind of confidence in a person and this was one of those times. Jenna’s back stiffened and she calmly told Elena to grab his left side while she grabbed his right. Between them, they dragged Jeremy downstairs and out towards the car. On the way to the garage, John met them and grabbed his nephew’s side so Elena could run ahead and open the car doors. Jenna drove them to the ER and only broke down once the doctors’ took over for both Gilbert men. Alaric met them under the harsh, florescent lighting and held Jenna as she sobbed into shoulder. When he made eye contact with Elena, her eyes were worryingly wide. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened, but Jenna needed him and he’d made a promise to keep her out of all of this. 

But how could he do that when the monsters kept crawling out from under her bed and had free reign in her home?

When Elena saw Matt and Sheriff Forbes in the waiting room, she nodded numbly as they caught her up to speed. She was finding a hard place to put her grief and worry for Caroline when Jeremy and John were already taking up so much space. She thought the worst day of her life would be the day her parents died, but it was like the universe insisted on punishing her and her loved ones for crimes she didn’t remember committing. 

* * *

A week later, with Jeremy and John back at home, the four of them sat in the living room to lay the truth at Jenna’s feet. She freaked out, which was to be expected. She insisted that they’d all gone crazy. After showing her the Gilbert diaries though and giving her time to really digest them, she nodded in a kind of exhausted resignation. 

“So, what now?” she had asked. John revealed to them all how he’d been working with Isobel and Katherine to protect Elena against Klaus. 

“How could you trust her?!” Elena shouted and John nodded, guilty under his daughter’s punishing gaze. He wasn’t sure which her she was referring to, but it was a safe bet that she’d meant both of them.

  
  
“I was doing what I thought was best, Elena. Klaus is…he isn’t like other vampires. He is more powerful and scarier than anything I’ve ever encountered. And the thing is, he wants you. He wants to hurt you and…I know that I’ve been terrible. I know that you can’t trust me, but I’m asking you to try right now because I need to be your father right now. I need to protect you.”

“And what about Jeremy and Jenna? Or Bonnie and Caroline? Matt? Tyler? What about them? What about Stefan?”

“Look, we need to leave. We need to get far away from Mystic Falls, Elena. You, me, Jeremy and Jenna. As far as your friends, well…” John shrugged, he didn’t have a good answer for her. 

“No, not good enough. If we leave, I need to know that they will be safe.”

“You staying puts them in danger.” Elena agreed, but she would never give him that satisfaction. 

* * *

She gave John a week. In a week, she would leave. During that week, she caught Bonnie up to speed. She knew she was asking a lot of Bonnie, to protect the entire town, but she knew that if anyone could do it then it was her. Bonnie was the strongest of them all. Damon begrudgingly agreed to compel the entire town to forget about Elena, save her friends. He did it, but he called her a coward for leaving. Trying to get in one last jab. Elena wasn’t sure if she agreed with him or not. She just knew that she couldn’t pretend to be normal anymore and she couldn’t keep ignoring what felt so glaringly obvious now, she was dangerous to know. As far as anyone would remember, the Gilberts had died and left a surviving son who had moved to Denver to live with relatives. No one would remember the once happy cheerleader who partied with her friends in the woods or the girl who spent too much time in a cemetery. 

The morning they left town, everyone gathered on the front lawn except Caroline and Tyler. No one had seen Tyler since the night of the accident and Caroline was recovering in the hospital. Matt had distracted the nurse while Elena had snuck in for a private goodbye the night before and they cried and made promises to always be there for one another. The sun hadn’t quite emerged yet and Elena felt like she was slinking away, scared and helpless. Tears freely flowed as she hugged her best friend in the world. 

“What if this doesn’t change anything? What if I leave and Klaus still comes after everyone? What if something happens to you?”

“It won’t. I’ll protect everyone.” No one else sounded a confident as Bonnie, ever. Not to Elena. She nodded and looked past Bonnie to Damon. “Will you stay? Will you stay here and protect her?” she asked. She trusted Damon to do whatever was necessary. She could swear his eyes gleamed with a wall of tears that refused to fall, but it was too much to think about what that could have meant. 

Elena had intentionally saved Stefan for last. He held her so fiercely that she thought she might snap in half from the pressure. Finally, she looked up and lingered over his lips, his nose, and his eyes. Trying to commit him to her memory. She reached up and smoothed her fingers over his cheeks, wiping away the tears. 

“You could stay. You could all come stay at ours and I could keep you safe. It should be me. I should be the one protecting you, Elena.” Stefan’s bottom lip quivered and Elena stretched up so she could capture it between her lips. Hushing him with a kiss. Stefan met her with a heat and desire to consume her, convince her to stay with his lips. After a while, she pulled back. Drawing back from slowly, her body and brain at odds. 

“You know I can’t Stefan. I wouldn’t be me if I stayed and put everyone in danger. And you know I need you to stay in case he does come. But don’t forget about me, please. When it’s time, come find me?” Stefan leaned into her, pushing her hair back one more time and whispered in her ear, “I will always find you, Elena.” His words sent shivers down her back and she was still thinking about him when they crossed state lines. She was still thinking about him in the motel when there was a knock at the door. Her heart fluttered, hoping it was Stefan ignoring what she wanted and coming for her anyway. It wasn’t Stefan. 

It was Alaric, coming for Jenna. Elena was happy for her aunt and happy that Ric was there to balance out John’s influence over the group, but she was disappointed it wasn’t her Stefan. 


	2. Here He Comes

_Palermo, Sicily 2019_

The sun was already bright and nearly blinding the brunette beauty as she lingered on her latte. The patio of Café del Professore was quickly becoming her favorite morning spot in all of Palermo and she, in turn, was quickly becoming their favorite customer. Her easy smile was an open welcome for most people. It was part of her nature to be charming, for a fleeting moment she made those around her feel noticed and just as quickly as she entered their life, they’d forget her. She had long considered that her secret power, to be utterly personable and easily forgettable. It had been her biggest strength in life.

She sat on the tiny metal chair, pinching her bottom lip as she stared off at the building across the street. Her deadline was fast approaching, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out an interesting angle for this article. She was lost in the idea of the people who lived across the street in the beautiful white walled building. She was initially drawn to the green shutter windows and the more she watched, the more she wondered about the many lives that flitted in and out of the big red doors.

The woman often did this, imagined interestingly mundane lives of everyone around her. She envied their simplicity and yearned for their routines. For someone to be waiting for her at home, wondering where she had been all day. Elena Gilbert hadn’t had that in some time and she was envious.

Time stole away from her and before she realized, she had gotten through two drinks without writing a single word. Frustrated, she packed up her laptop and made her way down the streets enjoying the way her short heels announced her intention. Growing up, she had always associated that sound with confident women and it made her feel more confident knowing that she too could make such a noise. She could command attention, even if it was just her own, the same way those women had when she was little. She had no real destination, she was just too frustrated with herself to sit still. So, she walked.

* * *

Piercing, blue eyes followed Elena as she walked down the street and they furrowed slightly. She looked like Katerina, but she didn’t have the same air about her. Her hair was wavy, but not in the perfectly smooth curls he’d remembered. And it was too wild, as if she hadn’t really thought about it too much. There was no style to it. She was dressed well in a light grey duster and a white sundress underneath, but it was just entirely too ordinary to fit with the grandiose image of his former dalliance. 

Is this how she had managed to hide from him for so long? By looking so incredibly ordinary and boring? He scoffed to himself and stalked along the streets, like the predator he was. He never got close enough to her to really get a good look at her face, but that was his intention. He wanted time to watch her before she even knew he was there. The longer they walked, together and not at all, the more he enjoyed himself. The mouse being wholly ignorant of the cat before it was too late thrilled him to his core. He watched her turn a corner and he suddenly had a brilliant idea, doubling back around to cut her off.

* * *

Elena turned the corner, but not before allowing herself a glance back. She couldn’t be certain he was following her specifically, but she tried to be a careful woman. Some called it caution while others called it paranoia. She called it mandatory. She sighed, relieved that she could no longer see her stalker. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, willing away the feeling of unease. It was probably just a coincidence, she assured herself. Her eyes opened right as she took a step into a well-muscled chest. His hands reached out to keep her from falling more into him. Eyes squinted as she attempted to look up to his face. The sun was too bright and she was forced to cup her hand over her forehead if she wanted to get a better look.

“You should watch where you are going, sweetheart,” he purred, low and threatening and far too familiar for Elena’s comfort.

She flashed him a smile, wide and unassuming. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t been here very long yet and I guess I’m still getting myself turned around.”

She threw him off. This is not how Katerina would have reacted to him. If he’d finally caught his duplicitous doppelgänger, then she would never have apologized or smiled at him. She would have fought or run, anything but offer a smile. He smiled back, adjusting his plan. “It’s quite alright, I suppose.” He eyed her face and realized that while she was a good copy, she couldn’t have been Katerina. Smile lines around her eyes and mouth gave her a more lived in look than the eternal teenager. There was also something about her eyes that just weren’t the same. No, this woman had about a decade of humanity on Katerina. How could she have survived this long without him knowing about?

“Well, alright,” Elena offered filler as she reached down to his hand. Her fingers grabbed his palm and slowly moved his hand away from her body. She smiled again before slipping past him. “Have a good day,” she waved to him without turning around to look back. Her smile slipped just enough before he caught up to her.

With a hand on her elbow, he turned her around to face him. “You can’t possibly think you could just run me over with no regard for my health and get away with it with a mere apology and a stunning smile. I could have been seriously injured,” he flashed his own considerable smile.

She thought something was off about it, even so. Elena snorted and looked back up into his eyes and with a roll of her eyes she asked, “Okay, so what do I need to do to make it up to you?”

“Well for starters,” he grinned, “You could tell me your name. And if you are feeling generous, then perhaps you’ll allow me to treat you to dinner.”

Her lips pulled to the side in a disbelieving frown. “I nearly run you over and apologize by allowing you to buy me dinner? That seems like a creepy way to pick up women.” Her fingers had formed air quotes as she spoke. He laughed, quick and sharp. Like the others, she had ample fire. She dared to mock him.

“Well,” he started, “It’s really your name that I’m after, love. The dinner is just a treat for you.” Even if he hadn’t meant it, he sounded completely condescending. She nodded and offered her hand. He enclosed it completely in his and placed his other hand on top of their clasped hands.

“I’m Elena,” she offered. So, this is the new doppelgänger, he thought, and a much better catch for him today than Katerina. Finding her would have merely satisfied his need for revenge, finding the human doppelgänger would soon satisfy deeper needs. Klaus bent slightly, looming over her face and shading her from the sun, and introduced himself as Nik.

“Just Nik,” Elena teased, “Not Nicholas? Nik No Last Name?”

“No, just Nik.” he assured.


	3. What Is It about Men

“Well, Just Nik,” Elena forced a grin, “I was on my way to the Abatellis. You are welcome to join me, but I understand if art isn’t really your thing.”

She had to think, but Elena had become so quick on her feet when the moment called for it. She felt more comfortable in control of her decisions so she had become more calculating over time. She’d recalibrate her plans, anything to get off this empty street and somewhere with more people.

He responded simply by holding out the crook of his arm and gifting her his most charming smile. Suspicion flashed briefly across her face, before Elena slipped her own arm through his and offered him a smile. She needed to play this carefully, let him think she was delighted in him.

Klaus had learned his lesson with Katerina. Don’t give a Petrova any reason to run and don’t allow Elijah to spend any unsupervised time with one. Either of these thing spelled disaster and missed opportunities for him.

They made light conversation about the weather and other inconsequential topics as they made their way to the museum. Elena focused on her breathe, pushing slowly in and out. It was alright to appear scared when she ran into him, but he’d become suspicious if she continued at that pounding pace.

It wasn’t until they made it inside that Elena finally pulled herself out of Klaus’s hold. His irritation evident in the way his mouth pinched until he noticed the way she’d become entranced in her surroundings. She wandered over to and became immediately lost in the wooden crosses that checker boarded the first level. Although this was not his preferred medium, Klaus had to admire the beauty. His eyes surveyed each cross until he settled back on Elena and realized how lost in the space she appeared. It was as if everything else, including himself, existed in a different world. It was, he admitted to himself, endearing in a way. Normally, he would have appreciated a beautiful woman getting lost in art, but not if it meant he was also getting left behind. Klaus was not a man made to be ignored and she was dangerously close to disregarding him completely.

Slowly, with the fluid movement that only cats achieve, he made his way behind her. Hoping to startle her. “I have to say, this is not quite what I was expecting when you told me you were going to an art museum.” Her lips parted though her eyes never looked back at him, as if he just wasn’t more important than the cross in front of her. Infuriating woman, he thought, like the rest of her lineage.

“The paintings are upstairs,” she finally told him. She turned around and gave him the smallest of jumps, having not expected him to be so close again. He grinned, enjoying eliciting such a reaction from her. He was looking forward to garnering bigger reactions from her in the future.

“Would you prefer that?” she asked.

“Are you religious, Elena?” he ignored her. Neither Tatia nor Katerina were zealots and he was concerned to think of Elena as being outstandingly different from either woman. He expected her to be more of a copy and he hadn’t consider the ways in which she could differ. Wouldn’t entertain the idea that she was anything more than a replica of the others.

“Not really,” she replied, “I guess I’m more interested in the themes of sacrifice.” His head snapped back to her. This certainly was interesting, he considered.

“In what ways, love.” He never made anything sound like a question even when it was, she noted. Arrogant to phrase everything like a command.

Elena’s hand had reached up to her throat to stroke her fingers along the soft skin just above her collarbone, a self-soothing gesture, but it still had the effect she had wanted. Klaus’s eyes were drawn down to that sensitive spot.

“Just what it means to value something beyond yourself. People are naturally selfish. It isn’t really a bad thing, it’s natural and pretty normal. Why wouldn’t you value yourself over most anything? But the idea of, what would it take for you to make the ultimate sacrifice? Who or what is important enough to make a person act so selflessly.” She gestured with her free hand back to the cross. “That is what I find interesting.”

Klaus nodded as if he understood, but the idea that he would ever make that kind of sacrifice was laughable to him. He’d fought too hard in his life to ever make such a nonsensical decision. Suddenly, Elena laughed jarring his attention back to her.

“Sorry, that was probably weird to say. Let’s go upstairs.” Before he had a chance to say anything back, she’d already started towards the stairs.

Usually, Klaus would not have enjoyed the casual ease with which Elena walked away from him as if he wasn’t at all dangerous. He was too used to people treating him with caution and regard. After all, no one just walks away from a king without being dismissed, but he was finding that the view was worth the minor insult. Petrovas were a tool, but even so, they were beautiful. And besides, the more he could lull the doppelgänger into a feeling of security around him the better. His eyes trailed her hair, cascading in waves down her back. It seemed heavy and Klaus wondered what it would feel like in his hands if he were to push it off her neck.

Before he realized, they were standing still again. Once again in front of a piece that seemed like such an odd choice for a young woman. Without him realizing, she was already casting a net.

“The Triumph of Death?” he asked, his voice low and so close to her ear that it sent shivers down her arm. “What is it exactly a twenty…,” he appraised her,”…five year old woman finds so interesting about death?”

“Twenty-seven,” she corrected. “Well, next month. And I guess I’ve just always been attracted to subjects like death. It’s hard not to be when your parents die so young.” It had been such a long time, but Elena still found it weird to say aloud. How much emotion to put behind those words? She inevitably always said it like a fact that was separate from her life, like reciting a grocery list.

“So, you are an orphan?” he asked, prompting for her to delve into specifics.

“Well, it’s complicated.” So, she wasn’t going to give him any more than that. Just a lure with a bit of bait.

She needed to keep his interest in her and not what she was. She needed him to see her as a person.

* * *

Klaus and Elena spent the rest of the day together. First, walking through the museum. He appreciated the way she’d stop and evaluate different pieces as if by staring at them long enough they would answer some kind of question. He fantasized about her doing the same to his work. She was all too invested in her questions and he wanted to know what she’d ask of his artistic endeavors. Everything circled back around to human nature, a topic Klaus had long since become disinterested in. He followed her through courtyards and they continued to talk. He found her to be easy and more enjoyable than he’d thought she’d be. Earlier in the day, he was prepared to deal with Katerina in blood and revenge. He was looking forward to the ways he’d punish her for running, but this, Elena, was a welcome surprise.

When she tried to leave after the museum, he looked at her deeply, “Elena, stay with me. Show me the city.” She froze, briefly. She remembered how it felt when Damon tried to compel her, with no luck thanks to Stefan’s necklace. It felt the same now, like standing on a cliff and that strange sensation of wanting to let gravity pull you down.

She smiled as blankly as she could muster trying to show no fear, focusing her eyes on that unseen middle distance. “Sure, let me show you where I like to take my morning walks.” She took him through her favorite neighborhoods and discussed why she was so drawn the architecture here.

“Everything is so close together and so different. Nothing looks the same. You kind of know where you are just by looking. I hate the feeling of the suburbs. Everything looks the same and it is just so unsettling. I like how remarkable everything looks here.” Klaus agreed with her assessment, likely because he saw himself as being different from everything else and he liked her appreciation for that which was different.

They found themselves on the patio of a bar Elena had yet to visit, sharing a drink. She’d been out to different places and had even become acquaintances with a close knit group of locals, but they’d never brought her here. Perhaps it wasn’t youthful enough? Elena was sure that it just didn’t fit their rowdy nature enough. It did, however, fit him very well.

Her laugh was infectious and Klaus found a strange pride in being able to elicit such a sound from the doppelgänger. It hadn’t been like that with her past iterations. Elijah was the brother they’d preferred. Even though Tatia was closer in age to Klaus, she had fancied Elijah over him. Later down the line, Klaus had fashioned himself a high lord with all the trappings of the most eligible of bachelors, Katerina has preferred Elijah. Klaus vowed to never give this version a chance to decide who she preferred. He balked at the idea of Elijah making her laugh.

“You’ve only been here then for a couple of weeks?” he asked, becoming more and more captivated by her.

“Yeah, I don’t like being in the same place for too long. The world is so big and the more I travel and see it, the smaller I feel.” The more the hours passed between them, the more she felt comfortable in her plan.

“You like this feeling? You enjoy feeling small. Seeing the world does not make me feel small.”

No, she thought, travelling would not make a conqueror feel that way. I bet it makes you feel powerful.

The way he said that word, small, as if it was a cockroach scurrying across his counters, made Elena laugh. “Well not the way you make it sound!” she protested. “I like knowing how big it all is. I like seeing it. There is so much out there and it makes me feel like any problem I might be having is so small in comparison.”

Klaus smirked and leaned into the table, reaching across to rub his thumb on the top of hand. It had been so long since he’d been wrong about a woman and he was confident that the chemistry and conversation with Elena was stacking the odds in his favor. In so many ways, she belonged to him and he wouldn’t mind exploring other ways in which she could belong to him. So, naturally, it surprised him when she wrinkled her nose and pulled her hand back into her lap.

“I should really go. It’s getting late and I still need to write this piece. Plus, I told my friend Maria that I’d help her pick out an outfit for this date she has.”

“Of course, my apologies for having kept you occupied for so long.” She mouthed an apology and stood up.

“Can I see you again?” he asked and hated immediately how he sounded like a pathetic teenage boy. She should be the one yearning to see him. He tried to tell himself that the only reason he had asked was to keep tabs on her until he could confirm his witch’s readiness for the sacrifice. But a small piece of him, a part he would not acknowledge out loud, had enjoyed Elena’s company. She was more complicated than any other Petrova had been. She was different, older and just more.

She brought the strap of her back over her head and turned back to look at him. He’d stood up as she did so she had to look up at him. “You can,” she paused as if considering her words, “If you can find me.”

She winked at him and left. He wasn’t wrong at all. He was certain that she was flirting with him. She was, he could appreciate, a woman who yearned to be pursued.

Well then love, he thought, let the chase begin.


	4. Just Friends

Elena made it back to her apartment after just a short walk alone from the bar. Most nights, she enjoyed the breeze coming from the ocean but tonight her mind was too occupied to pay much attention to her surroundings. She felt grounded in the worst way, like her feet were heavy and stuck to the earth. She was forcing herself to rush home, pushing past this weird feeling, instead of enjoying her time alone. Running into Klaus had surprised her and she chided herself for it. It has been so long since she fled Virginia and she’d never actually seen the reason she’d been forced to leave. She was beginning to believe that he wasn’t actually real, an ever present anxiety that would never materialize.

The only light in her living room came from outside through the patio doors. Still, it was enough for her to see the dark figure pulling the curtains back to let more stream in. She flipped the switch with no hesitation and dropped her keys carelessly on the coffee table.

“It’s not like you to stay out so late when you know I’ll be here for a visit.” Despite him scolding her as if she were a child, Elena had always loved the deep and certain cadence of his voice. It made her feel protected in a way she hasn’t felt since leaving Mystic Falls in the weeks following Founder’s Day. With her family, there was always uncertainty, but she was so confident in his ability to survive and protect her from any threat. Including and up until now, his brother.

“Well,” she started, “I had a bit of surprise at the café.” Elijah turned around, his face composed and neutral save for his dark eyes, there he held his concern for her. She pulled at her hair, pulling up into a bun and letting it unravel over and over. “I met your brother today.”

“Niklaus?” he asked, though to be true any answer she gave him would be worrisome. She nodded as she slipped her shoes off and left them by the front door.

“Are you okay? You seem,” his wrist rotating as if to pull the word out, “intact.” His eyes roamed her body and she appreciated the attention.

She rewarded him with a soft smile. “Yes, I’m alright. He did introduce himself as Nik though. It’s not the name he usually goes by now, right?” When Elijah affirmed her question, she continued. “We spent the day walking around Palermo. I took him to the museum. I left him just now at this bar about a half mile away from here.”

“Can you be certain he didn’t follow you here?” Elijah kept making small moves, closer to her.

“No, I can’t. But I don’t think he did. I told him he could see me again if he found me. Something tells me he wouldn’t want to spoil anything by cheating and following me from the bar.”

“Elena, I don’t think it wise to tease him this way.”

She had gathered her bare legs underneath herself as she pulled a throw over her shoulders, despite the summer heat. Her hand peaked out to pat the cushion next to her, an invitation. Elijah, as stiff and formal as ever, sat next to her and eased one arm over her shoulder, resting on the back of the couch. Elena leaned into him, using him as her head rest. “I’m not teasing him,” she insisted. “I’m intriguing him. There is a difference.”

“No matter what word you use for it, I would still call it un-wise. We should get you out of Palermo by the morning.” She could tell he was already calculating her next moves for her, his eyes flicking back and forth with some inner scheme.

“You don’t think that would raise his suspicions? He thinks I think he is just a nice man that I bumped into and spent the day with. He doesn’t know that I know who he is or what he wants with me. I think I’m safe for another couple of weeks until the next full moon. At least.”

“I don’t like it, Elena.” He could see her reasoning, but even so he didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of her inhabiting any space close to his impulsive, dangerous brother.

She could feel the heavy rise and fall of his chest, a sign of his disapproval. In the years that she had known Elijah, Elena knew that above all else he wanted her safe and away from his younger brother. He felt so guilty about Katerina and Tatia. Elena was sure he saw her survival as a duty that he was obliged to fulfill.

There were times that she’d wanted more from him. Drunk nights that he had carried her home when she had tried to will him into kissing her. Nights that she’d insisted that he stay over for dinner where she’d wondered how it would feel if he’d grab her waist from behind while she cooked. Hungered for it. Nights that she’d been bold and cupped his face in her hands, trying to communicate what she couldn’t say aloud with her eyes alone. But nothing had ever happened and she’d given up on her tempest desires, settled into this comfortable familiarity that had been established.

“I wouldn’t ask you to like it. But I think if I can make him think he’s in control long enough, I can leave in a way that wouldn’t seem like I was running. Make him think I’m just some normal flighty girl who can’t sit still long enough in one place. Not, ya know, a doomed figure running from him, specifically.” Elena swooned as if she was a damsel in distress and was rewarded with a rare chuckle from Elijah. “Anyway, at the very least, he wouldn’t chase after me in earnest or anger.” Elijah pulled her closer into him as she drew a circle into the fabric of his pants, just above his knee.

Her heart still betrayed her in these small moments with him. She could close her eyes and imagine a world where they were truly together. A world where he saw her as a woman and not an obligation. She knew she didn’t live in that world, but she liked to visit.

* * *

_New York City, New York 2015_

Elena felt the hands around her arm before she saw them. She winced in pain, thinking this would be a mugging which she thought would be such an ordinary way to die after everything that she’d been through. She looked up at the man, dark and handsome. Her fear intermingled with arousal, as she was prone.

“Katerina?”

“No, not her.” Her voice sounded breathy, even to her. There was something special about him, she reasoned. This wasn’t a normal way to react in this situation.

His dark eyes pierced into her own and she felt something low in her stomach drop. She was worried about what he wanted with her, but underneath that worry was an immediate attraction that came from somewhere deeper than her conscious. This feeling originated in her bones, in the souls of the women who came before her. It was as if a part of him had been thread into her DNA.

His grip loosened on her and for a moment she found herself wishing he’d touch her again. His jaw clenched and his hand hovered over her back, careful not to touch her but leading her nonetheless into the empty alleyway. She complied in a way that would have been disappointing to Alaric, she realized.

When they were sufficiently far enough away from foot traffic, he crowded her until her back was pressed up against the brick wall. Gentle hands pushed back her hair and held on to her neck. His face leaned in to hers and for a fleeting moment she thought, irrationally hoped, he might be trying to kiss her. Her pulse sped up and when went past her lips to her neck, her excitement was replaced with fear. This too seemed familiar and when she made an effort to side step away from him, he held her firmly in place. This man is smelling me, her mind screamed. Finally, he looked back up at her and he almost looked sorry for her.

“My apologies, I had to be sure that you weren’t her. My name is Elijah.”

“I mean, I told you.” She tried for dismissive and haughty, but her register was too low and breathy.

For days, he kept her in his home. Not exactly like she minded though. She recounted how John had been working with Katherine to kill the tomb vampires to avoid Klaus finding out that she was still alive which was supposed to have kept him from coming to Mystic Falls.

Elijah told her about how Klaus had shown up anyway only to be disappointed that there was no doppelgänger there to either sacrifice or torture.

She told him about how John had known it was Katherine in the kitchen that night and not his daughter. About how he had killed her and Elena saw the pain and loss in Elijah’s eyes. He had loved her, she thought, but she couldn’t figure out how anyone could have loved Katherine. A lot can happen in five-hundred years, she reasoned. People change. It had barely been five years since she left her home and Elena already felt she wouldn’t recognize the woman she has become.

They just talked late into the night, despite the strange yearning Elena felt to touch him. She didn’t understand it at all, but maybe this was just another weird thing about being a doppelgänger, she figured. These feelings were just a shadow of what Tatia or Katherine had felt. In her free time, Elena did as much research as she could about her lineage. It felt like learning about her ancestry, but so much more personal than that. This set her apart from everyone else she knew. In a way, she felt like she was a continuation of their lives as well as her own.

On the third day, he had asked her why she kept moving so often if Klaus had stopped looking for her so intently.

“Now that Katherine is dead, I’m the last doppelgänger left alive.” She spoke as if she expected him to know everything about her.

“And that matters how?”

“After she died and we left Mystic Falls, John thought it would be best to learn as much as we could about the Petrova line. Katherine’s father was a member of a group called the Travelers. Klaus isn’t the only one who wants my blood to break a curse. I’m not exactly sure how I factor in, but I guess when it comes to blood sacrifices, Petrova doppelgängers are just top tier.” She shrugged her shoulders as if the idea of her being sacrificed was as normal and mundane as city traffic. Just a regular annoyance in her life.

Her face and the casual way she spoke of the possibility of her own death moved him. That was the day the Elijah vowed to protect her in all the ways he couldn’t protect Tatia or even Katerina. He wouldn’t travel with Elena. That would be improper and too personal. But he would check in on her from time to time and do his best to shield her from not only Klaus but also these Travelers.

The pull to keep her by his side was strong. He couldn’t deny the images conjured in his mind at the sight of her, sleeping on the couch. He could, he’d considered, lay behind her. Stroke her hair off her neck and gift her with long, drawn out kisses trailing up her neck to her lips. But Elijah had firsthand experience of what his involvement with Petrova women did. He feared for her safety should he get too involved. He would keep her at arm’s length. A deep friendship was all he could offer.

Besides her family who fled with her and the friends who she kept in contact with albeit carefully, he was one of the constants in her life that made Elena feel grounded when she treated cities and countries like a revolving door of refuges. The relationship they forged together was often fraught with things unsaid on both ends, but it was the most successful friendship she had outside of her school friends.

* * *

_Palermo, Sicily 2019_

Elena looked up at Elijah and found him sleeping. She laid her palm carefully on his cheek, boldly venturing her thumb across his rough stubble then to his lips. Her tongue swept across her own lips as she swallowed her desire back down. Elijah had never made a move and she wouldn’t be the one to forge a path where he had never indicated he’d be willing to follow. It was a shame. He’d been the only man she was comfortable enough with to fully let in to her life as an adult. 

She got off the couch and opened her laptop back up, forcing herself to finish the article from that morning and submit it before the deadline. It probably wasn’t her best work, but Elena still needed to earn a living. Besides, working allowed a brief distraction from the weird feelings Elijah always inspired in Elena.

Later, her thoughts would turn to Klaus as she wondered briefly if Elijah was right in his assessment of her plan. She quickly dismissed it. Elijah may know his brother, but she knew men. Klaus may be a monster, but he was also a man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely still a story about Klaus/Elena, but did I ever fall in love with Elijah while writing this chapter.


	5. Satisfication

With Elijah gone, the next few days were tense as Elena expected to see Klaus any and everywhere she went. Turning every corner, she felt certain she’d run into him. She avoided the museums. Back at the café, she kept peeking over her laptop with a dread curiosity. She started carrying a stake and a bottle of concentrated vervain, even during the day. She wasn’t stupid, it would be mostly useless against Klaus, but it might give her the time she needed to make a run for it. Sometime, those quick moments were really all a girl needed.

On the third day, he found her and each day after that. Sometimes, he stuck around just long enough to exchange pleasantries leaving her feeling oddly unsatisfied and other days he would abscond with her for hours as they explored the city together, always under the pretense of compulsion and always completely entrancing.

He was so effortlessly charming, she could see the appeal. Appreciate the way he could part a crowd for her. The way he commanded the attention of other women without trying. He was an ambush predator, dangling himself out for her until she wandered willing into his jaws. 

So, she walked arm in arm with her pursuer through the stone-cobbled streets of Palermo careful not to get caught. Any bystander would assume they were a carefree couple, but being with him for that long often felt like running a marathon on a tight rope for Elena. She was keyed up, always on alert for a potential misstep. Even so, she also had that strange high she felt when she was with him like her mind was lifted from her body. It reminded her of a runner’s high or even that transcendent feeling she got from yoga.

She had been so certain of her plan and she hated to admit that Elijah had rattled her just enough. He had done his best to warn her of his little brother. Told her the stories of his intense rage, his possessiveness, and his pride. The bodies he had cleaned up in the wake of Klaus’s tempestuous nature. Still, Elena felt like she had it under control or as much as anyone can be in control over a wild animal. And Klaus was the wildest of them all.

Feeling like she had any amount of control with him was a mistake. 

She was sitting on her patio, watching the sunset and just about to hit send on her latest assignment when she spotted his blonde curls. No, it wasn’t just that. It was the way he sauntered down the street. The confidence in his shoulders. She had already begrudgingly admitted to herself that she liked how he looked and how his hair seemed to shine in the sun. All these things and more made him seem like a beacon of gold.

_All that glitters, Elena._

She stood and leaned over the metal railing. “Nik?” she called out. He looked up at her and her heart jumped into her throat, sickeningly.

_Why had she called out to him? Why not let him walk past her and into the night?_

Her night would have been infinitely easier. She couldn’t be sure, but she tried to tell herself that this was part of the plan. He needed to see her as a person and know her aside from her supposed purpose. That was the reason. Moments later there was a knock at her door.

“Hey,” she smiled and leaned against the door frame, careful to keep her limbs on her side of the threshold. Like a rollercoaster. Keep hands and feet inside the ride at all times.

It was the beginning of June and the heat wasn’t going away at night anymore. With just a window unit for relief from the Sicilian summer, Elena was dressed in white shorts and a loose pink tank top. The light colors brought out the tan she’d been getting on her many outings with Klaus.

“Good evening love. Had I known you lived here, I’d have been haunting your balcony daily to catch but a glimpse of your beauty.” He smirked at her, dimples cutting into his face.

She laughed in that way women do when they appreciate a compliment, especially when it felt corny. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Just going for a walk. This chance meeting is already more than I’d have hoped for though.”

The odd notion that it was no chance stirred in the back of her head, evolutionary instincts that she swatted away. “Well, I’m hanging out tonight. I was just about to start dinner.” She opened her door wider and took a step back. “Are you hungry?”

He lowered his head and grinned, biting his lower lip. Not exactly the invitation he needed. “I’m always hungry, depending on what’s being served.” Klaus was definitely bolder, more outrageous than his brother. She found it was difficult to hold the image of Klaus in her head with Elijah. Klaus was just overpowering in so many ways. Brash and brazen, everything about him screamed – _More_. Elijah lived in the shadows of her imagination and Klaus demanded the spotlight.

The air hung around them, tense with a game only one of them knew for certain was being played. Klaus thought for a brief, flitting moment that she knew he couldn’t cross her threshold before arrogantly dismissing the thought. There was no way she knew what he was. He’d been playing his part too perfectly to have been discovered.

“So, come in then.”

He walked across the threshold of her home the way he walked through the city with her, like he owned it. He pulled up a chair to watch her move deftly through the kitchen. Pulling out a knife, cutting board and various ingredients. They talked as she chopped the mushrooms and onions. She flustered when the water boiled over and extinguished the stove’s flame. She’d become more or less comfortable with him out in the world, but his presence in her personal space threw her off balance. As she become more fixated on finishing up dinner and less on him, he took the liberty to explore her home.

Klaus noted how few personal effects were in the living space. It all seemed so utilitarian and he realized, worried, that this was not a permanent residence. His eyes caught sight of a sleek looking record player. “You listen to records.” he called to her.

She peeked her head out of the kitchen and nodded. “Yeah, I know it’s kind of silly. Apparently the sound quality is supposed to be better. I can’t really hear a difference to be honest.”

“So, why listen this way? If you can’t tell a difference.” He thumbed through her collection, nodding occasionally with approval.

“I think I just like the process of things as much as I like the product.” She brought out two plates of pasta to the living and set them down on the coffee table. “I’ve always liked the ritual of things. Setting up the record player to play just a handful of songs. Using a pour over to make a single cup of coffee. Writing in my journal at the end of the day. I like things that require a little bit of set up.”

“I can appreciate that. I feel similarly about painting. I enjoy setting up my work station. Mapping out shapes and colors. Being surprised when the painting takes on a life of its own, demanding things of me that I wasn’t anticipating.”

“You talk about it like you don’t have control over it.”

“No, not with that one thing. Art makes demands on the artist, not the other way around. You can only control so much. Where you put the paint, which colors to use, the stroke of the brush, but in the end the painting is its own.”

“What happens if you don’t like what it demands of you?”

“Then I destroy it and start over until I create something I do like. That, I have complete control over.”

She picked at her food, swimming in thoughts, considering what he’d said. “I’d like to see your art sometime.”

“Perhaps one day.” His response was short, clipped as if she’d said something outrageously offensive. It pulled her back up to the surface.

The silence between them pressed hard on her chest, her lungs. It was as if the air itself had gotten heavier. He’d open himself up to her and just as quickly he shut her out again. But for a moment, she saw him. She was glad for it, any longer and he might have sucked her under, submerged in him.

“So, how did the date go?” he asked and the sudden topic change reminded her that she could breathe.

“I didn’t go on a date…” She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, brows almost meeting in the middle. He tensed, imperceptible to her, at the thought of her out with another man.

“Not you, your friend. The one who needed your assistance with her outfit.”

“Oh! Oh…well actually not too great. I guess the guy just wanted to be friends or something. Dating seems to be hard these days.” Elena knew Maria had told her more detail than that, but she was having a difficult time remembering. She was honestly shocked that Klaus had remembered something as banal as a stranger’s date. Elena made a mental note to be careful about what she told him in the future.

They sat on opposite ends of the couch, eating in silence. “Sorry,” Elena started to apologize. “When I moved in here, it was rented with furniture already but there was no T.V. I guess I’ve just been lazy and haven’t bothered yet to really make this place mine. I’m never sure how long I’ll stay in one place, so it usually seems pointless.”

“It’s quite alright, love. I don’t mind simply sitting here to enjoy your company,” he flashed her a smile.

Klaus wondered if things would have been different with either Tatia or Katerina had Elijah had not been around at the same time, pursuing them relentlessly. Maybe he would have been at the center of Tatia’s attentions or he would have successfully sacrificed Katerina and unleashed his hybrid nature long ago. He counted his blessings that his brother was, as far as he knew, miles away and unable to ruin his time with Elena.

She collected their plates into the kitchen and returned with two glasses of wine. Klaus sat like an open invitation, legs stretched out and his arm draped on her couch like a welcoming embrace. Elena had gathered her legs up on the couch, shielding herself from him, and used the arm as a back rest.

She wondered what Elijah would think of her if he knew she invited Klaus inside. She briefly fantasized about him being jealous, but she settled on the truth. He would think she was an idiot. Oh, he would say it in a much more polite way, but she always knew exactly what he meant even when he dressed it up with his pretty words.

“So, you are thinking of leaving Palermo then,” he interrupted her thoughts of his brother.

“Eventually. Palermo isn’t home. I guess I don’t really stick around any place for too long.” She watched his jaw clench and unclench. It was clear to her that maybe she had dropped that nugget too early.

_Maybe she had played her hand too quickly?_

He could just as easily grab her now and she’d have no way to alert anyone. Foolishly, she hadn’t told anyone beside Elijah about Klaus and if she were to go missing she worried Elijah would merely see her as another failure to the Petrova women and continue on living his life without any consideration for her. As long as he’d been keeping her safe and watching out for her, she wasn’t sure he’d directly confront Klaus over her.

“And why is that exactly?” Klaus’s eyes bore into her and she suddenly felt dizzy, from the wine or from stumbling in this heady mind-game she began. She could tell his mood was boiling over into anger and she did her level best to ignore it.

She decided that if this was going to be it, she’d try for a little bit of the truth. Or something close enough to it. “Do you remember when I told you my parents died? And that my being an orphan was complicated?” She didn’t need to wait for him to say anything. “Well, I found out afterwards that my dad wasn’t my biological dad. Actually neither was my mom. My birth father was really my Uncle John.”

Hearing about Elena’s father stirred something close to empathy in Klaus. He understood all too well what it was like to grow up in that situation. Though, the way Elena had described her parents in previous conversations led Klaus to believe that it was a much better scenario than his own. He should be envious that she should be so blessed, but he found himself relieved that Elena hadn’t experienced the horrors he had. She didn’t deserve that kind of ruin. No one did.

“After he told us the truth, he also made plans to move. He was a paranoid man, always looking over his shoulder. It’s hard to explain. John believed in all kinds of weird things, but he got me, Jeremy and my Aunt Jenna out of my hometown. Alaric, Jenna’s boyfriend kind of tagged along. It was hard leaving everything I knew and everyone I loved, but John always said it was for the best. How do you argue with your father when you are just a kid?”

She breathed out and assessed his reaction. She didn’t want to talk too much about her family, but she reasoned that he already knew their names. Hopefully not their locations. It was a calculated risk and from the way he reacted to her question, it was worth it.

Klaus nodded solemnly. You don’t, he thought and shuddered.

“Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed,” she admitted.

So did Klaus. Dealing with a teenaged doppelgänger would be so much easier than this grown woman. Hearing the story of his defeat from the mouth of his destined sacrifice was jarring. Even though her face remained composed, her voice betrayed the fear and loss she felt. Klaus find himself holding two conflicting truths in his mind that he was the villain in her story and that she was, in a way, the hero of his story. In a sense, she was the prince come to kiss him and awaken him from his curse.

“John was obsessed and moved us so frequently, it was hard to grow roots anywhere. Jenna was able to home school Jeremy and I until we tested out for our G.E.D.s. Jeremy left first to go out on his own. I think his leaving made me realize that I could leave too if I wanted. Until then, I’d not considered leaving them and so I did. I left and kept looking for the place that feels like home, but nothing ever does. Palermo is as nice as any other place I’ve been, but it doesn’t feel like home. I don’t belong here.” Elena breathed in deep and exhaled, steadying her heart. This next part was either going to fail miserably or do exactly what she needed it to.

She shifted on the couch and lightly touched Klaus’s knee, surprised by the heat she felt play along her fingertips. “I think meeting you, Nik, is the only reason I’ve stuck around so much longer than I’d ever intended. I look forward to our time together.”

Relief flooded her body when he smiled back. He looked so pleased with himself, like she had just put his drawing up on the fridge. And truthfully, he was. Despite not wanting Elijah anywhere near Elena, he wished his brother were here to hear that. Klaus would have loved the opportunity to gloat. He was the reason Elena had stayed. Finally, this one was drawn to him. Not Elijah.

Klaus left that night feeling triumphant. He had lingered at her doorway, considering if he should kiss her and decided against it. He reached out and tilted her face up to his by her chin. Her sudden palpitations pleased him. “Good night, Elena.”

He wanted her considering the possibility of him longer. Mulling him over and over again in her mind until she made the first move. He walked through the streets feeling elevated, but that feeling dissipated in the following days when he could no longer find Elena in the café, park or bar they’d been frequenting.

He cursed himself as he searched for her, frenetically with the crazed air of madman. He’d have been foolish to ever think he could ever be the reason a Petrova stopped running, even for just a brief moment. When he found her, she’d be lucky to survive long enough to be sacrificed.


	6. Dumb

After Klaus left, Elena booted up her laptop and finally called the one person she needed to loop in above all others. Her shoulders melted away from her ears when her best friend’s face popped up on the screen. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been until she saw Bonnie. Every muscle in her body relaxed fully and she ached.

“Hey Bon!”

“Elena! Isn’t it, like, super late where you are?”

“Yeah, it is. I just needed to talk to you.”

Damon popped into the frame. “What’s up, Elena the Vampire Slayer,” he joked. Elena had snorted, appreciatively.

Damon was always fun and good for a witty verbal match. Bonnie shoved him away and apologized for his interruption. Elena waved it off. She didn’t know if her best friend still felt weird about her relationship with the oldest Salvatore, but she’d stopped bringing it up. The two had settled into a playful, flirtatious bond over the years and Elena was glad Bonnie had stopped feeling the need to justify it. To her or anyone.

Yes, there had been some undefined friendship between Elena and Damon. She saw the good in him, saw how hurt he was by Katherine. Underneath it all, he was really just hurt and lashed out at everyone because of it. Damon stayed behind in Mystic Falls ultimately because it was always his home and he wanted to protect it. Eventually, his definition of home expanded to include Bonnie.

So much had happened after Elena left and Bonnie had become something of a town witch. Protecting Mystic Falls from malevolent outside forces. She and Damon had developed a rapport, a partnership. Where she went, her vampire bodyguard followed. Elena wasn’t surprised when Bonnie moved into the boarding house. She was happy for her friend and relieved that she’d found love. Although with each glance and inside joke, she felt a pang of envy that life in Mystic Falls had moved on so seamlessly without her. She’d become a spectator in their lives, a supporting audience.

“What’ up, Lena? It’s not the Travelers is it? Did the charm stop working?”

“No! God! Nothing like that. No one has recognized me since you sent the ring. No, Klaus is here. In Palermo.” Bonnie was silent for so long that Elena thought to check her connection.

“I’m sorry, he’s there? You saw him?” Bonnie’s register was getting increasingly higher as she spoke.

Elena groaned, “Well, not exactly. I’ve met him.” She braced herself for impact.

_And I just invited him into my house. Fed him. Pasta! Not my blood. Ha ha?_

“Met him?!” The glass in Bonnie’s hand shattered. Damon swooped back on screen once more with a quick “Careful there, witchy.” He stayed long enough to pick up the shards and give her hand a once over. The way he turned her hand over, like she was a rare flower, made Elena crave for something similar in her own life.

“More like, I’ve been hanging out with him.”

“Elena Marie! How can you just…hang out with the person who came to town looking to kill you?! Do you have any idea what it took for me to protect everyone from him when he found out that you’d already left? What he did to Caroline was…” Bonnie couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I know, Bon.”

“It was barbaric, Elena. You didn’t have to see it.” Her voice was nothing more than a horrified whisper, slightly accusing. Elena didn’t blame her for it.

Caroline was lucky to have survived the car accident the night of Founder’s Day. Technically, she had died briefly in the operating room, which had inadvertently triggered Tyler’s werewolf gene. Curses don’t really worry about technicalities. They don’t negotiate terms. Death is death.

Months later Klaus made his way into town, unpredictable like a tornado and somehow more destructive. He had gone from local to local attempting to compel information out of them, but Damon’s compulsion had worked as they’d intended it to. Except when Klaus got to Matt and tortured the information out of him, who was left in town that Elena cared about. Not willing to go head to head with a Bennett witch, he targeted Caroline.

Hurting her just enough to satisfy his rage, but not to kill her. Stefan was forced to give her his blood, hoping against all hope that it was enough to repair her. When she died, he vowed to help her through her transition and then leave to find Elena. Not only was she not “the worst vampire ever” as Damon had predicted, but Caroline was the most well-adjusted vampire Stefan had ever known. She reminded him so much of Lexi. In death, she was more alive, strong and confident than she’d been as a human. 

Elena knew Bonnie still felt guilt over how she’d initially treated Caroline after the transition. That, she guessed, was a big part of why this was such an emotional topic.

“Look, I know you think this is stupid and I understand. It’s just, that I have a plan.”

“A plan? On how to deal with evil incarnate? Aren’t you worried? You’re playing with fire with him. You should leave, come home. I can protect you.” Bonnie urged yet again. They were older now and Bonnie had so much more experience under her belt in addition to the massive raw talent she possessed.

Elena was familiar with the pleas. She had faith in her friend, but it was still too much of a risk. The charm might give her an advantage with the Travelers, but they knew she was still alive and they wouldn’t stop looking. Eventually, even hidden things get found if you search for them long enough.

“Of course I’m worried, but at least with Klaus I know it would just be me. He wants me for personal reasons, but they…want me for worse. That’s what worries me more, Bonnie. I’m scared of him, but they terrify me.”

“I know. I just hate that you are so far away. There isn’t much I can do from here.”

“You don’t always need to be everything for everyone, Bon. You already do so much for everyone. Let me try to this?”

“I know. Can’t I just want my best friend to come back home? I miss you. So much. We all do.”

Elena’s face stretched into a pained smile. “I miss you too.”

And she did. In a way that you miss a person or place that you no longer quite fit with. The balance of their friendship had formed in the cracks after she fled. She worried about it flourishing if the concrete of distance was broken up by her return to Mystic Falls.

_What would her presence do to the ecosystem there?_ She feared the worst.

* * *

Klaus cursed himself for letting the doppelgänger go after she’d practically warned him that she would leave. He stalked the park looking for any sign of her. When he couldn’t find her there or the bar, he plucked up a drunk poorly navigating his way back home. It felt so good to shove him against the stone of the old buildings, feel his head crack sickeningly against the wall. It felt even better to sink his fangs into him and drain him completely dry. Throwing his husk of a body on the ground felt like shedding some of his rage.

He stood in the alleyway, blood dripping down his chin and looked every inch of a medieval painting of the devil. He did his best to wipe himself clean on his shirt. Blood, he had found, was incredibly difficult to get out of facial hair. The next night he turned up at Elena’s apartment, ready to confront the damning evidence of another Petrova betrayal. He fixated on the idea of burning her place to the ground. To hell with anyone else that lived there.

Instead, he found a sick Elena and a wash of guilt crashed into his misplaced rage, the feeling congealed in his heart.

She answered the door in an oversized Henley and grey yoga pants. It isn’t often than a centuries old vampire is surprised, but there he was standing in her doorway. Klaus doesn’t often enjoy being wrong, but tonight he was overjoyed. “You look terrible, sweetheart.” He was delighted and he didn’t bother hiding it in his voice.

“Oh wow thanks that makes me feel so much better. You know I love opening up the door to insults,” she croaked. Even in illness, her sass was dialed up. No, not sass, he corrected himself, her fire.

“You are supposed to look awful when you are sick, Elena. I believe those are the rules of life, frustrating as they may be.”

Elena rolled her eyes and walked back to her couch, which looked like it had been bombed by tissue and take-out. Klaus ventured inside, assessing the damage. “How long have you been sick?” He realized with shame that while he had been stalking the city streets, devouring anyone who looked at him sideways, she had been suffering alone. He could have been here taking care of her from the start if he hadn’t gotten in his own way.

“The day after you were over for dinner?” Elena’s eyes got wide. “Oh no! I didn’t get you sick did I?” She knew how silly that was as soon as it left her mouth.

“While your concern for me warms my heart, no love. I don’t frequently get sick.”

_Or ever._

Klaus pulled up the coffee table to the couch and sat across from Elena, who had settled back into her cocoon on the couch. This close, Klaus could see her swollen glands making her throat look bigger than it was and the thin layer of sweat on her brow from the fever. It struck him how fragile she was. At any point, she could have gotten sick and died or passed in some kind of accident that humans are prone to and then where would he be? She hadn’t mentioned any child, though Klaus reminded himself, neither had Katerina. He reached out and touched first her forehead and then her cheek. He felt her freeze under his touch.

“Sorry,” she saw him notice, “It’s just you haven’t exactly been overly touch-y with me in the last couple of weeks.” It felt like a lame excuse because it was. She just wasn’t sure what his angle was tonight and she was too delirious to keep up with him.

“You are burning up, Elena,” he ignored her. It was true. She felt warmer than he thought was normal. Though, he admittedly didn’t have an overwhelming amount of experience with humans. With the exception of Marcellus, but even then that was so long ago.

She leaned into his hand on her check and this time, it was his turn to freeze. She looked so comfortable, open and vulnerable to him. She was treating him like he was safe, a man who could protect her rather than a monster who would tear her in half. It touched that place deep inside him that had always wants to be that for a woman.

“You feel so good, Nik.” Her eyes were closed and Klaus found himself wishing she’d say the name he’d chosen to go by for so long. That thought made him think on other ways he could elicit his name from her lips. He shook the thought loose from his head and withdrew his hand. Her eyes shot open and she mumbled an apology. “Sorry, I mean your hand. Feels cool.”

He dismissed her and spent the next hour cleaning up her apartment, throwing out trash and cleaning the dishes that had been piling up.

She watched him behind heavy lids from the couch. It was weird how domestic the whole thing seemed to her and an awful thought nestled itself deep in her head.

_  
Could he be kept?_

This man was the reason she had fled her home and her friends. He was the reason she felt so stuck while she watched her friends move on with their lives. Even Jenna was building a family with Alaric. It was just the Gilberts who seemed so lost and alone. Jeremy off trying to complete some tattoo that he said had appeared the first time he killed a vampire. And John, lost in his books just researching everything he could; Originals, Travelers, or Petrovas. But now, here was Klaus cleaning her dishes. And she felt dangerously close to home.

_No, I can’t like him. I can’t. I’m sick and sad and alone. I can’t be this vulnerable. He isn’t even likeable._

When he picked up her house keys and headed for the door, she sat up. Too fast, her head started swimming. She didn’t know what she was more worried about in that moment, him having open access to her home as if he didn’t already or him leaving.

“Easy, love. Just going out to grab a few things.” By the time he returned, she was fast asleep in a position that indicated to him that she’d been watching the door. He grabbed her shoulder and gently rocked her. Not wanting to wake her, but needing her awake. Her eyes fluttering open overwhelmed him with the desire to stroke her cheek.

“I went out to a pharmacy and grabbed you a few things. Also, soup. Shocking, but I’ve found food to be essential in a healthy body.”

She laughed weakly. This whole situation was too bizarre. She wished it had just stopped at bizarre and not gone all the way to embarrassing. As she laughed, she felt her mouth water and the room start to spin. She kept trying to swallow the feeling down. There was no time to warn him or to run to the bathroom. Elena leaned over and retched over the living room tile and, yes, Klaus’s shoes.

She was freaking out, hyperventilating. She just threw up over a homicidal monster’s shoes. His very expensive shoes. She felt his cool hand on her neck and winced, bracing herself for the worst. Weeks of carefully dancing around him and she was about to be murdered for being sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	7. Move Over

Klaus grimaced as, whatever it was, hit his shoes. He reached down and deftly grabbed Elena by her neck to steady her, using his other hand to gather her hair. It felt so heavy and soft in his hand. When he’d thought before about pulling those dark waves to one side, this wasn’t quite what he’d been imagining. Even so, he enjoyed this opportunity to touch her.

When she finally finished, he waved off any apologies she tried to offer. “Don’t worry yourself.”

He watched her wipe her mouth, looking so ashamed, and sighed. He was in this now, involved. She hadn’t meant to set the final trap and she’d certainly never meant snare him, but here he was – caught up in her and he would refused to be released.

Carefully, to avoid the puddle, he stepped off to one side and reached underneath her knees with his other arm supporting her back and lifted. She buried her face in his chest and hid as he brought her to her bedroom. He found that he liked the way she’d nuzzled into him. Wished that he was venturing into her quarters under different circumstances.

_Would she so freely seek comfort from him if he’d found her as a teenager back in America?_

Something told him that she wouldn’t. Her being alone seemed to play a role into why he’d been allowed so far in. Surrounded in the love of her friends and family surely would have been a blockade to a moment like this one.

If he had found her where he’d intended, he would have been prepared to ignore anything she made him feel. It had been an accident those few weeks ago, and he hadn’t been ready for her.

Awkwardly, he pulled back her blanket and sheet while trying to balance her in his arms and gently laid her down. He left and came back with a wet washcloth.

Elena briefly wondered how he’d found them so easily and then the thought was chased out as the cold towel was laid across her forehead, ushering in a wash of relief. He pulled the blanket back up over her waist and walked out of the room to clean up again.

If he was honest, Klaus hadn’t left the bedroom because of an intense desire to clean up. If he was honest, he knew that seeing Elena prone in her bed had conjured up images in his head of what he’d like to do to her in bed when she was well again. If he was an honest man, he would have left her apartment after cleaning up. But Klaus wasn’t an honest man.

Elena lay in her dark bedroom, shaking between the cold, wet cloth and her fever. She should have been worried about what Klaus was doing in her house, but strangely she wasn’t. It could have been the fever or that he’d been so gentle with her tonight. It all seemed so absurdly normal. The weeks leading up to this felt, in a way, like courting.

Without her around to monitor him, Klaus took his time looking through her things. Her house wasn’t exactly her, he determined. There was no unique art anywhere. No memories framed on her wall. Nothing that expressed who he thought she was. He did find a basket of yarn and some puzzles, solitary activities. With a jolt, Klaus realized exactly how alone Elena was. Not just alone, but lonely.

He knew what that felt like all too well. He had a big family once, but slowly they either rejected or betrayed him, forcing him to dagger them for their own well-being. All his life, he was quick to mask abandonment and disappointment in anger.

He was so ready to be angry at the idea of Elena leaving that he’d killed the past few days for no other reason than just to direct his anger somewhere. No, not just leaving but leaving him specifically he acknowledged. He’d always felt such a possessive ownership over Tatia’s doppelgängers. Katerina was meant for him to break his curse and Elijah betrayed him. Tatia was, he struggled with the thought of her, so enticing. She was so free and wild. He would have done anything to be with her. And yet, there was Elijah. Involved and interrupting as always. Couldn’t very well let little brother alone. But not now. Now, he had Elena and Klaus wasn’t likely to be making introductions anytime soon.

After some time, Klaus returned to her bedroom to find Elena still awake, although definitely out of it. When he walked up to the side of her bed, she reached out to grab his hand. He’d been so careful not to touch her early on during their many excursions in the city. He wanted to occupy her time, and at times even her, but he was still wary of Petrovas. By all accounts, doppelgängers had no magical prowess outside of their useful blood, but Klaus wasn’t entirely convinced. Like a siren, Klaus was suspicious that she would call out to him and he’d be powerless to run away or do what he needed to do. He already had an inkling of the pull she had on him.

“Stay with me,” she squeaked out. And that small, pathetic noise was all it took to unravel him. As if he needed any encouragement.

“Of course, Elena.” He nodded, not realizing that the whirlpool of Petrova charm had already laid a claim at his soul. Foolishly thinking that he could still avoid it.

She smiled, her eyes still shut. “I like how you say my name.”

“How exactly do I saw your name, love?” Klaus asked while slowly pulled off his socks, unbuckled his jeans and allowed them to drop to the floor. In any other situation, this would have meant something more, but Klaus’s clothes were soiled and he didn’t like the idea of crawling into her bed bringing filth in with him. He kept his shirt on for her sake. Or perhaps to keep a thin barrier between him and her. The idea of her searing skin touching his would be too much to bear. Even he had his limits and if he felt her touch against him, he might lose his composure.

“It sounds beautiful the way you say it. Important. You make it sound so special.” You make me sound special, she thought.

He slipped under the covers and Elena turned on her side to face him. Pulling the blanket up and over her shoulder, shifting her body ever closer to him.

“Well it is beautiful. You are beautiful, Elena.” Klaus opened his arms as an invitation.

She crawled closer to him and rested her head just at the crook of his arm. “You think I’m beautiful?” A whisper full of hope.

“Don’t be daft. I know you are smarter than that. You don’t need me to tell you something you already know.”

She sighed and let out a slight laugh, feeling some immediate relief when she touched his skin, which made Klaus smile. This is the most intimate he’d ever been with any of the Petrova women and it was something he’d desperately wished for from Tatia in his childish heart. Knowing that he was here, possibly getting another chance, overwhelmed him and more tenderly than he’d ever been, he laid a gentle kiss on her temple, searing her.

Elena reached out and laid a hand on his stomach underneath his shirt and he swallowed hard. She inched his shirt up, slowly as if asking, and for once in such a long time, Klaus wasn’t sure what to do. That she might reach out for him instead of recoiling. He helped her with pulling his shirt up and over his head, exposing his flesh so cold in comparison to hers. She cuddled into him even more, the heat of her skin started small fires across his arms and chest. He would happily be consumed by her heat if it meant getting just a taste.

He stayed so impossibly still when she hooked her ankle around his and slowly dragged her leg up his body until her thigh rested on his stomach. He eyes searched for something, anything, interesting about her ceiling. His traitorous hand combing through her hair. One swift pull and she’d be on top of him, aware of his growing arousal. But this, now, wasn’t how he wanted her.

It had been so long since anyone had treated him like a man and not a monster, either by cowering in fear or postulating for power. Klaus closed his eyes and soon found himself wishing he’d thought to strip her before putting her in bed. He was loving the feel of her hands on his skin, but craved to feel more of her directly on him. He tried to push the images out of his head but they kept coming back. She fell asleep so quickly and this all felt like a terrible, cosmic joke.

She was fate. She was meant to die and finally make him whole. And here he was, trying to sleep next to the woman he had intended to kill. Wishing she’d cling even more to him. Relishing in this opportunity to comfort her when not hours ago he’d imaged the ways he might torture her.

* * *

The early morning light streamed in through the window making honest the feelings he’d held close in the dark. The night covered him and allowed him to pretend that there was only now. Tomorrow seemed like a distant memory in the dead of night.

Klaus woke up to find Elena’s back to him. The swell of hips fit perfectly within the curve of his body. He dug his face further into the fan of her hair and pulled her closer. She didn’t feel as warm. The sheets were a little damp with the evidence of her broken fever. She stirred and moaned in his arms. Klaus’s heart beat so soundly that he wondered how she’d not woken up to the noise. She turned over and he found himself staring into her face. He dared to reach out to touch her. To caress her check, her lips. He dragged two fingers down from her lips to the base of her throat, feeling her pulse.

She could be yours in a better way, a hopeful voice told him. She could fill in the space inside you, where your heart used to be before you ripped it out.

Then reality came crushing down on him as a more bitter voice prodded him. Would you sacrifice your destiny just for a woman? Eventually, you would prove to her that you are no man, but truly a monster, abomination. And then, where would you be? Cursed and alone, still.

He left before her face conjured up more questions he couldn’t answer. Before she could wake up and her smile could halt his desire to run.

* * *

In the harsh light of morning, Elena woke up to find herself alone in a sweat soaked bed. She felt bereft, like a ship in a storm without a sail or compass. She squinted, angry with herself for not buying heavier curtains. She looked around, making sure he wasn’t in her room and made quick work of stripping off her clothes and pulling on a robe. She knocked first at the bathroom door, tentatively opening it even though no light peeked out from the cracks. She padded through her house with bare feet and a bare heart. He wasn’t anywhere. He’d left her.

_Why did he leave? Why did he even stay in the first place was the better question._

As she was brushing her teeth, she tried hard to remember details of last night. She had no trouble recalling retching over his shoes. It was when she remembered asking him to stay in that weak voice that she flinched and bit down a little too hard on the toothbrush.

_Oh god! How could I have invited the big bad wolf into my bed like that?_

It was a perverted version of Little Red Riding Hood. He’d caught her in bed and she’d asked him to stay. No, he caught her much earlier than that and she’d followed him day after day telling herself that it was her machinations. This fairytale wouldn’t end well. Not that the old ones did, but especially not when the girl willingly invites the danger into her bed, buries her face in him, and undresses him. Consumption was not only inevitable, it was wanted. She was horrified.

But he hadn’t, consumed her that is. He had left without a word leaving her with nothing more than a chaste kiss on her temple. She didn’t like that she’d felt disappointed to find him gone. But she was. 

She pulled her phone off the charger. Her finger hovering over his name in her phone.

_God, when did I exchange contact information with my enemy?_

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she hit green and quickly pushed the red button on the screen. Without realizing it, she was holding herself tight. She exhaled and relaxed. She scrolled up from Klaus’s name until she got to Elijah.

She wasn’t sure what last night was or if it even meant anything, but she needed to feel grounded now. She needed him to remind her who she was and who Klaus is. She needed to know that last night didn’t mean anything because it couldn’t. Practical Elijah was the best at keeping her head from soaring too high. Her romantic heart got her into trouble, but he was like an anchor keeping her from getting carried away.

After two rings, he picked up. “Elena.” He sounded so pleased it was her. It made her feel terrible, her stomach sunk like she’d drank too much.


	8. Wake Up Alone

If Elena thought she was playing a game of cat and mouse before, the next week showed her clearly that she’d been playing on easy.

Klaus kept showing up and, almost as if emboldened by his one night in her bed, he would appear at her door almost every evening. Though it was never empty handed. He always showed up with something delicious for dinner or flowers. Coffee and pastries for breakfast. Sometimes late at night with dessert. Whatever it was, it was always tempting. Elena eyed him like a field mouse would an owl or any other predator. She was perpetually perched in the corner waiting for his smile to fade right as he announced some evil plan.

He did everything in an attempt to seduce her except talk to her about that night and Elena was ashamed to admit how disappointed she felt. It was as if something fundamental had changed between them but he had neglected to tell her. It felt so different than with Elijah, where nothing ever changed. She’d thought before on how she’d valued that in him, that he was her constant. But this, with Klaus, was so new and exciting. He was a wildfire that incinerated all her prior conceptions about what attraction could mean. 

He found any reason to touch her; handing off a take-out box and brushing her fingertips with his, or sitting close enough so that the edge of his thigh just barely touched hers, or upgrading their goodbyes to enveloping hugs. Those were the hardest as she felt the muscles just under his shirt pressed against her body. His arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled into him like an undertow. Breathing techniques were not cutting it, each time he touched her she felt close to drowning. She couldn’t go to Bonnie or anyone with this. She had stopped calling Elijah to remind herself of the dangerous game she was playing with Klaus. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be reminded anymore. Living in this reality with Klaus was too appealing. She willfully slipped in further.

She thought about calling Caroline who would have so loved to talk about matters of the heart, but recently she’d been weird on calls recently. She broke up with Tyler, finally, just months ago. Not that he’d necessarily been bad towards the end. They’d just grown into such different people. It must have been, Elena acknowledged, hard to let go of someone when nothing was precisely wrong, but also nothing was exactly right either. Elena thought that there might be something between her and Stefan, but it was a suspicion based on nothing concrete. She wasn’t brave enough yet to outright ask. Stefan was a thorn in her heart still. One she was too afraid to touch.

So, she called Jenna instead.

* * *

Her aunt looked gorgeous and glowing. Her bump was in full view as Jenna carefully sat down in the armchair. This would be her and Ric’s first child and Elena knew how excited they both were about it. She was excited too, to be an aunt finally. Seeing Jenna grow her family made Elena feel as if she hadn’t ruined her family. She had uprooted them but those roots were not destroyed. The plant still thrived.

“Elena, hun, how are you?” Elena smiled back as wide as she could, knowing it wouldn’t quite reach her eyes but hoping technology would be on her side. It was and Jenna didn’t notice.

“I’m doing good. How are you and Ric?”

“Oh ya know, good. Tired. All the time. It’s shockingly difficult to sleep when your stomach is housing a whole other person.” Elena faked shock. “Ric and Jeremy still go out occasionally to patrol for vampires. I’d rather he didn’t, but you know Ric.”

This was a long-running argument that Elena knew to stay out of even though she understood. John Gilbert was more of a researcher where Alaric Saltzman was the fighter. While John guided the family from state to state, Ric protected the family and taught Jeremy and Elena how to fight. Jenna learned some self-defense, but Jeremy and Elena were hungry for a true education that Ric was more than willing to give. They always made sure that whatever city or town they landed in would be safe from at least that supernatural element within weeks of their arrival.

“You know they will be fine. Jeremy is so freaky strong now. They’ve got each other’s back.”

“I mean obviously I know. I can’t help worrying though. I’m already nervous enough about being a mom. I don’t feel great with the idea of possibly doing it alone.”

“Jenna, you will be a great mom. Look at how Jeremy and I turned out. And nothing bad is going to happen to Ric. You won’t have to do this alone.”

“I don’t know how comforting that is, Elena. Jeremy is killing vampires every night in an effort to complete some tattoo none of us can see and you’ve been running from everything for years. Jeremy should be in art school or something and you should be a doctor. In Mystic Falls.”

Elena’s mouth set determinedly against her face. “While that is a nice idea that just isn’t our lives, my life. You did the best you could with the wild circumstance we were thrown in. We are alive, Jenna. We have each other. You kept us together and safe and sometimes, that’s all you can ask for.”

“Well, sometimes it is okay to want more out of your life.”

The two women talked for almost an hour centering mostly on the pregnancy and upcoming family plan, but Elena couldn’t bring herself to tell Jenna about Klaus. It would be too complicated to even try to explain. Despite never having met him, Jenna was angry that she had to leave her town behind and she blamed him, rightly. She was grateful for her family, but it had been a lot to take in her young niece and nephew and then to add in the overwhelming truth of vampires and werewolves and witches. Well, Jenna didn’t exactly enjoy talking about that part of her life. Elena wished her aunt a good night, but not before she tried to guilt Elena into calling her dad, John. That was surprising to her, Jenna never liked John before and she only barely tolerated him after they fled.

“I know. I know. I will. I promise.” Elena had seen Ric as more of a dad since they had started running. She knew John was trying his best to be her dad, but it was always so awkward between the two of them. They both had so much to say, but the words never came. It was easier not to look too far beneath the surface with each other.

* * *

As compartmentalized as Elena tried to live her life, keeping her time with Klaus separate from her family and keeping Elijah unknown to both her friends and family, a couple nights later that artifice that was carefully built from omission and lies came crashing in on her. She should have known it was inevitable.

Elena and Klaus were enjoying each other’s company at another bar, sitting outside on the patio near the fire pit. Elena had noticed how Klaus looked at her the last time when the shadows from the flames danced on her face and she had intentionally chosen the same spot again tonight. Totally part of her plan, but she was forgetting exactly what that was again. Definitely the plan and not because she wanted him to look at her like that again. Like she was the fire and he wanted to warm himself next to her.

She was laughing at something he said, likely teasing her for something ridiculous that had come out of her mouth.

“I absolutely refuse to believe that you prefer charcoal to oil. Oil is emotion and passion and layers. Charcoal is so…novice and flat.” He snorted, only pretending at being bothered by her laughter.

This time, when he reached across the table to touch her hand, she didn’t pull it back. She sunk into the feeling of him. She knew she shouldn’t, but the thrill from his touch was becoming addictive. She relished how small her hand felt in his. She’d promised herself she’d go right to the precipice and have a quick peek over, but she would keep her feet planted firmly on the ground.

“Charcoal has its merits. Just because you don’t prefer it, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy. It is…highly adjustable.”

“All that says to me is it is a medium for those who can’t commit. I, on the other hand, am an expert at committing.” The way his eyes flashed when he said that made her want to ask him other questions. Luckily, she was distracted.

A group of people passed by the table and someone called her name. The interruption had her scurrying far from the edge, slipping her hand out of his. She turned and it was a few of the people she’d hang out with in the few hours when she wasn’t working or spending time with Klaus.

Elena made friends easily. She was charming and effervescent, refreshing and fun like a spiked lemonade in the summer sun. But she never made the kind of friends that she shared secrets with or let in to her life in any kind of meaningful way. Each time she moved felt like a cover and the people she met her alibis, filling in the spaces of her life to make her temporarily full until the next move.

She was the kind of friend that flit in and out of lives. Years later, they’d remark how fun that summer was with that one American girl.

_You remember her? Vaguely._

But years from now, she would become just an impression of a person.

Adrian was the one who had called her name. He was tall, taller than Klaus. His arms and legs stretched impossibly long and his hair laid flat to his head. He seemed so hopeful until his eyes were drawn down to the table seeing her hand unwrap from his. Maria, just to his right, stepped forward and teased, “Is this man the reason we haven’t been seeing our Elena around as much?”

She teased, but Klaus couldn’t help correcting her in his head – _my Elena_. His hand tensed as he tried to re-capture hers and he was certain she’d noticed. She glanced down, but to his relief, she seemed almost pleased, allowing herself to be hooked to him again.

“Yes, Maria this is Nik. Nik, Maria. And Adrian.” Elena made polite introductions, but dare not provide more information. She’d felt him to react and she knew better than to give him more information that was necessary.

To her surprise, Adrian stepped forward and reached out his hand. Klaus took it firmly and Elena noticed the weaker man flinch through the extra moments of the greeting, refusing to let go. _Great, a pissing contest._

“You are still coming to Amalfi for your birthday, right?” Maria had clued in to the tension and went for a distraction.

Elena hadn’t necessarily forgotten about the plans she made with the group almost a month ago during one wine-drunk night at Maria’s house as she had hoped that they’d forgotten about it, about her.

Klaus took in this new information, assessing her reaction. As intimate as they’d become in their time together, he realized there was still so much she kept from him. Least of all her birthday. Klaus had been stalling with the new moon on the horizon. Instantly, he rationalized that a girl should always be able to celebrate her birthday. There would be other full moons. He could wait.

“Yes of course I am!” she enthused, actively avoiding Klaus’s pointed gaze.

Maria didn’t seem to notice it. “Wonderful! Well you should come too, Nik. The house we rented is big enough and the more the merrier for our girl’s birthday.” Maria squeezed Elena’s shoulder and turned to walk back to the group. Adrian’s eyes lingered for a moment on Klaus’s hand as he held Elena’s, thumb stroking her knuckles, before turning back to the group.

Elena watched the group walk away, refusing to look back at Klaus until he spoke. She felt strangely like a teenager getting caught for sneaking back into the house, drunk from some party. “So, you had a trip planned, sweetheart?”

“Well, yes sort of. I didn’t think those were exactly real plans.”

“Elaborate for me.” He didn’t appreciate how evasive she could be when he was desiring directness.

“I just thought they were more like ‘wouldn’t it be so fun do this’ sort of plans that never actually happen,” she explained. Klaus wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. Any plans he made, he always followed through on. Elena had bent her hand into a loose fist over her mouth, her knuckles resting on her lips as she lightly pinched her bottom lip.

“So, if they’d reminded you out of my presence, would you have left me without a word?” It should have been a simple question, but she could peel back the layers of meaning like a tiramisu.

“Had I even remembered that I promised to go? I wouldn’t just leave without even mentioning it to you. If you weren’t here, I would have given them a last minute excuse to get out of it. I can still get out of it, Nik.” He settled back into his chair, the answer seeming to set him at ease.

“I’ve a better idea,” Klaus smirked, “When do we leave for the coast, love?” Elena couldn’t help thinking about the Cheshire Cat as Klaus smiled, guiding her straight into trouble. She’d been so good about finding reasons why he couldn’t spend the night since she’d gotten sick. As much as she yearned for him, she knew it was a bad idea. She had a feeling that she couldn’t hope to convince him not to follow her out of the country though. She looked back up and his lips were still curled up in a smile that could almost be a sneer.

Nope, no such luck. Not even one bit.


	9. You're Lost Little Girl

She made several attempts to convince him not to come, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. As capricious as he could be, he also had a firm resolve when his mind took to a decision. She knew from the gleam in his eye that night and the way he’d reacted to Adrian that he would never allow her to leave without him. And that possessive twitch and Adrian’s unwillingness to back down deeply concerned her.

“You won’t have any fun!”

“With you there? Impossible.”

“My friends will annoy you.”

“A fact of which I am well aware. You should be flattered that I would still accompany you.”

“I haven’t even bought my ticket. We won’t be able to go.”

“I am more than capable of making travel arrangements for the both of us.”

She almost had him one night over drinks at her place. She’d sat just a little too close after he’d had just a little too much to drink and looked up at him while keeping her chin down, aiming for that old Hollywood coyness. “You know, we could just stay here in my apartment all weekend. Just you and me. No distractions.” She’d ran her hand up his chest to his shoulder.

He’d looked back down at her as if truly considering her offer. She trembled as he took her hand in his, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Nice try, love.”

* * *

Nothing she said stuck. He was immovable on this. There were many reasons for her to be afraid of his presence on this trip. What sort of trouble would Klaus bring to the other man on the trip? What sort of trouble would he bring her? Another full moon was coming and he’d made no sort of move to whisk her away. Was he considering this trip to be a perfect time for that? As a precaution, Elena texted Elijah.

_Take care, Elena. I beg you to be vigilant with him. I fear you do not take the threat of him seriously. I will see you soon. Unfortunately, it seems as if I must celebrate your birthday a bit belatedly, dear friend._

With only a week to secure transport, Klaus and Elena would be arriving hours after the rest of the group. That suited Klaus just fine as he wasn’t in a rush to spend any extra time with Elena’s acquaintances. When she had suggested that they purchase red eye tickets to pay as little as possible, Klaus barked out a laugh. He’d been so careful to not reveal too much of himself to her, to keep her entertained with the idea of him and not get into the details of him. But travelling amongst a throng of humans crossed a line. He’d arranged for a private flight out to Naples and then a private car to the rented beach house. It should have concerned him that Elena didn’t question this, but arrogance blinds those who have no humility. 

Elena settled in to her seat and though she’d have felt a little safer in a crowd, she wasn’t exactly complaining about the extra leg room. She’d expected him to take the seat across from her, but when he settled in next to her, Elena’s chest felt heavy. Like a cat had suddenly jumped up on her.

_No, not a cat. A wolf._

Her perception of him had shifted the night he took care of her. She hadn’t realized that she’d been living her life with a gauzy film over her eyes. Everything since that night seemed brighter, more lucent. 

She’d been so vulnerable in front of him and was begrudgingly annoyed that he’d left before she’d even woken up. It ate at her that he’d never mentioned it since, but spent his time instead shamelessly flirting with her and teasing her with his touches. She should be pleased that he seemed enthralled with her, but she had a nagging feeling about it all.

“So, dear Elena, are we excited to be celebrating such a special occasion with your good friends?” Klaus was slouched just enough in his seat to be able to cast her a teasing, upward glance.

“They’re not…we are just friendly.” It sounded so pathetic, trying to explain her relationship with them to him. Was there a subcategory underneath friend?

“And the young gentleman, you are friendly with him?” There was an edge to his voice that made ‘gentleman’ sound like a terrible thing to be. She suddenly felt very cold.

“Adrian?” He was the only man she’d introduced to Klaus, but she couldn’t imagine why he would even care. Didn’t want to dwell on the possibilities of his interest.

“Any of them, I suppose.” Klaus said it with a dismissive gesture of his hand as if he’d already grown bored of the subject and yet, his eyes never left her.

They’d argued about his invitation all week but barely spoke about her friends and this was something she’d been hoping to avoid. Elena had spent more time with Klaus in the last several weeks than she’d spent with any man since, she racked her brain, well since Stefan in high school. Even her visits with Elijah never lasted more than a day or two.

It was always too difficult. She had tried to stay away from the supernatural after leaving home, but she’d also found human men to be far too fragile for her comfort. She was a dangerous person to be around inherently and she couldn’t allow anyone to get hurt. It didn’t leave her with many options and she’d focused her attention on the lives of her family and friends without giving too much thought to her own. Poured her love into their gardens, ignoring her own.

“Not overly friendly.”

“From the way he looked at you, he would like to be overly friendly.”

“Does that matter?”

“Inquiring minds, love.”

“I hadn’t ever considered Adrian in that way. What matters to me is not what some guy wants, but what I want.”

The lights had shut off in preparation for take-off, otherwise Elena might have caught Klaus’s shoulders relax. As soon as he got the answer he wanted, his whole body melted into a much more casual pose, his arm crowded into her side of the seat and his legs sprawled open, his body invading her space much like he’d been invading her mind. The more she tried to get away from him, the more he claimed her space.

The dark of the plane and lack of other passengers strangely made Elena feel like she had to start whispering. It felt like being back in her bed that night. The rest of the world faded away into the dark. It was just him in front of her, no one else.

“Why did you want to come?” She was genuinely curious, but knew it wasn’t realistic to expect an honest response.

“I’m hurt, Elena. Do you think I wouldn’t want to celebrate such a special day with you? Or is it more that you wouldn’t want to include me in the festivities?”

“No…nothing like that. It’s just that we don’t really know each other. Why would you care about my birthday?” Care about me. That’s what she really wanted to ask.

“Your words pierce my soul, sweetheart. I’d venture to say that I know you better than most. At least those people.” He seemed so confident in that, she realized. Maybe he did know her better now than so many others.

Elena was struck with silence. Had she shared too much of herself with him? Had he somehow gotten the upper hand? Had she ever even been in control of the situation? She felt just as foolish now as she did at seventeen.

“What do you even know about me?” she challenged, curious about what he’d say. What was it that he had learned about her? What did she look like through his eyes?

He looked up at her, licking his lips. Her hand itched with the desire to pull his face up to meet hers. She steadied herself, waiting for a response.

“You aren’t afraid of being alone, but you are lonely.” He held up a finger, anticipating her protests. “You question everything including yourself as if you are checking for weak spots in your armor. You think you are running away from something, but I think you’ve been running toward something.”

Elena began to protest, against what she wasn’t sure. Was he completely wrong about her or uncomfortably right? Either way, she didn’t like feeling so transparent to him, or anyone.

Before she got the chance to launch her defense, Klaus had pulled her face down to meet his. His hand on the back of her neck was firm where his lips on hers were so tender. He felt soft and rough at the same time, his lips imploring hers to open just a bit more for him.

“Nik?” Elena found herself complying, at the same time seeking out the rough expanse of his jawline. As soon as her lips parted, Klaus was there exploring her further, his tongue darting in and out and his teeth occasionally nipping her lower lip. His stubble leaving a trail of hot, prickling skin behind has he continued his search of her body.

“Oh god, what are you doing?”

His lips dipped lower, exploring the curve of her jaw down to her neck. “Would you have me stop?”

“No,” she whispered so low, her treacherous voice full of the built up potential over the last couple weeks.

Soon, his hand was tracing a line up her leg, from her knee to her thigh. Mapping out her body. He stopped here and there to circle some unknown city with his thumb. Her hips rolled into his hands, urging him to keep visiting.

He neared her inner thigh, massaging just below where she ached for him to touch. Elena was feeling unprepared and outmatched, only able to offer small, encouraging noises. He was the Big, Bad Wolf come to eat her up and she was asking him to be quick about it. Begging for him to consume her fully.

She reached out to run her hands through his hair. Something, she had to admit, she’d wanted to do from almost the beginning.

Startled, he pulled back out of her hold and looked at her. It was too gentle a touch.

Elena wondered if she’d see his blue eyes or something darker and more deadly when she opened her eyes. But there was a flaw in her logic. He was deadly whether he looked like it or not.

All the small moments between them, the grazing touches and glances, even him being in her bed hadn’t prepared her for this feeling. Her lips were raw and swollen and she knew that they’d been wrapped up in each other for much longer than she’d initially thought. She gathered her courage to lean back in again when Klaus abruptly pulled back from her, closing his eyes. Closing her out.

“I suspect we may be landing soon, love. You may want to have a look in the mirror.” He teased, pleased with himself. She felt the words land like a cold, steel wall shooting up between them.

Elena inspected herself in the bathroom mirror. The lights were harsh and already doing her a disservice. She passed some chap stick over her lips and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail. She inspected her neck, relieved that there was nothing she’d have to hid or explain away tomorrow morning.

What was that, she thought. He’s toying with you, that’s all. Don’t think about it too much. He’s just playing with you. She’d grown so accustomed to him being around that she’d nearly forgotten exactly who he was. He’s trying to seduce you to your death. No, what just happened didn’t mean anything special. She wasn’t anything special in that way, not to him.

She’d straightened herself out and splashed some water on the back of her neck, trying to cool down a bit before going back to her seat. She was embarrassed by how caught up she’d gotten in him, but she wouldn’t let him in on that fact. She needed to find a way out. Escape him.

“You alright there, love?” He smirked, a telling glint in his eye.

“Yeah, fine.” She did her best to seem unaffected.

They spent the rest of the flight in silence, Elena in her head and Klaus smug and satisfied. Maybe not satisfied completely, but enough for right now. She stared into the middle distance as they grabbed their bags and settled into the car. Elena was relieved to be able to stare out the window, pretending to be absorbed in the scenery instead of the way she’d wanted his hand to keep exploring or how afraid she was that she’d even let him kiss her in the first place. Her heart jumped into her throat as he leaned into her, his mouth hovering just above her jaw.

“Don’t worry, love. I’m not yet done with you.”

He was pleased by how alarmed she was around him now. He’d been wanting to kiss her, to claim her, for such a long time now. It seemed that way, at least to him. The infuriating ways she’d managed to avoid his many touches becoming more. Poor excuses of deadlines or exhaustion, ushering him out of her home before the night really began. He mused to himself. There is no escaping me now, love, he thought as he watched her step out of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Sealed her fate with a kiss. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	10. Bold As Love

They arrived at the house late, washed in the moonlight. The sounds of waves crashing against the shore buffeted the silence between the two. Klaus had grabbed both of their bags as Elena punched in the code to get into the house. He pressed himself to her back, listening to the percussive music of her heart.

It was so quiet that Elena wondered if her friends were actually still out, she peeked into each room and paused in the kitchen.

“I don’t think anyone is here, but Maria left a note. There is a queen bed open in the back.” She held up the note as if she needed proof that it wasn’t coming from her.

“Alright then, love, lead the way.”

“No. We aren’t sleeping in the same bed.”

“And exactly why not? We already have once before.”

“Just because there is precedent, doesn’t mean it is happening again. Besides, I’m not comfortable with it. You could take the couch or I will.” She tried to block the path down the hallway.

“Elena,” he leaned in close, “Precisely why are you so uncomfortable with me?”

“I didn’t say I was uncomfortable with you, just sleeping with you.”

“Are you afraid of sharing a bed with me?” He kept invading her space, forcing her back down the hall. She felt strangely trapped and she could feel her pulse in her throat. His eyes kept flitting down and back up. He knew too. She needed to stop acting like prey.

Her back almost slammed against the back bedroom door, but even that didn’t stop Klaus from stalking ever closer. She could feel his breathe on her, somehow threatening and inviting at the same time. She wasn’t sure if she should run away or launch herself into him.

“I’m not afraid. I wasn’t the one who ran away before I was even awake the last time,” she managed to blurt out before she opened the door and fell through. She tried to close the door on him, but she just wasn’t fast enough. He held it open and gave her a look that let her know just how absurd he thought her.

“Is that what you think, that I was scared and left?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you did?”

“I didn’t know if you’d want me there in the morning.”

“So, you left so you wouldn’t have to find out?” She knew it was true with his abrupt shift. “You weren’t brave enough for the truth.”

“Elena, love, do you not care for your bag?” He ignored the jab and offered her the strap, playfully. “Would you really force to me to sleep on the couch? To endure small talk from whoever woke up first to await for you to come to my rescue.” Klaus offered her his best helpless face. Elena laughed into her hand, deciding that it was cute but weird to see him like that.

“I would actually,” she stared at him until he finally gave up and dropped her bag, walking back to the living room. She watched him go, telling herself it was to make sure he was really leaving.

* * *

Klaus lay awake, listening to the steady rise and fall of Elena’s breathing from the other room. So, he thought, she was bothered by him leaving that morning. He was pleased with himself. He imagined what she did when she woke up, seeking him out.

_Did she get up to look for him? Did she miss him?_

He closed his eyes and traced the line of her face, her heavy lids and full bottom lip. He drifted down to her neck, her chest. Imagining what she’d look like further down.

_What would be different if he’d met her ten years ago. Would they have known each other half as well?_

For the first time since the night he’d shown up at her door, thinking she’d betrayed him and finding her ill instead, he considered the sacrifice.

_Could he kill her? Even now?_

He had to be the one to do it. If he was to fully embrace himself and meet his destiny, he had to drain her of every drop. Had to watch her body turn blue and cold. Klaus briefly wondered how his mother would think of this problem of his. He had lusted after Tatia. He wanted her so badly, his first love. She had been the reason for his first falling out with Elijah. She would be cruelly delighted in his conundrum.

He’d distanced himself so intentionally from Katerina and she still ran away. Now, he was hell-bent not just on occupying the third’s bed, but also her heart. He was finally where he wanted to be at the start of all this. But he wasn’t the same man anymore and Elena wasn’t Tatia. He had time, he told himself. He’d let the full moon pass them by. Everyone deserves to celebrate their birthday, he had rationalized. He’d kill her in a month. He could do it.

* * *

Klaus woke up the next morning, irritated to find the kitchen already busy with laughter and the sounds of what he was sure was a banal conversation. He pushed himself up on his elbows and the movement caught Maria’s eye.

“Good morning! Sleep okay? We didn’t wake you up?” She cast flirty eyes at Adrian, who blanched.

“Is Elena awake?”

Maria nodded towards the open patio doors.

The sight of her caught his breathe when he found her on the patio, looking out at the sea. The wind tickled her hair and he was filled with envy. The sun illuminated her skin and he was filled with jealousy. The voices from the kitchen pierced the moment and drew her attention and he was filled with rage. He wished so fervently that he was here with her alone.

“Good morning, Nik.” He sat and smiled, entirely forgetting his flimsy determination to kill her. He could let himself be in the moment and deal with that later.

“Coffee?” she asked, holding out her cup.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He took the cup from her, holding on to her fingers for just a beat longer. He held her eyes for just a moment until she was distracted by movement at the doors.

Adrian and Maria joined them and Klaus felt immediately irritated. They were intrusions into the world he was working hard to construct in his head.

“So, how long have you two known each other?” Maria asked, she motioned towards the cup and the comfortable, casual air about them.

“Not for too long. I met Nik after I met you all.” Adrian looked skeptical at her words in the face of what seemed like an established intimacy. “It feels like we’ve known each other forever though.” She added. And they both did, in their own ways.

“Sometimes, it isn’t time that builds a bond, but a strong, indescribable connection.” Klaus’s eyes flashed up to Adrian, a prodding comment.

* * *

Later in the day with the sun high, they made their way to the beach. Klaus kept to himself while the others played in the surf. He seemed so unsure of himself in a breezy setting. His normal dark uniform having been shed for a borrowed pair of trunks.

“Is he your boyfriend then?” Maria asked

“Nik? No! We are just friends.” Elena thought about kissing him on the plane and the feeling she’d had last night when he had tried so passionately to convince his way into bed. 

“See, I told you!” Adrian seemed so triumphant and Elena felt a little deflated. Suddenly, Elena felt her body lift up as Adrian playfully flung them both under the waves.

Klaus watched them from the distance, his mouth twitching when Elena referred to him as a “just friend” and he had to restrain himself from ripping the boy’s throat out when he grabbed at Elena. He did think boyfriend was a laughable term. They were neither and so much more. Their lives and fates were so intertwined that even with her running from him, he’d still found her. He’d always find her.

Still, he couldn’t let such a bold attempt go as if it didn’t matter.

As Elena emerged from underneath the wave, her laughter was halted by something she spotted on the beach. She was just about to turn to Maria when she felt another pair of hands circle her waist from behind.

“Adrian!” She struggled to get away and the arms tightened around her, too strongly. She craned her neck and was met with Klaus’s chest.

“Not quite, love,” he whispered, “Disappointed?” She shook her head side to side and he beamed.

Klaus spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach alternating between glaring at the other man and finding small ways to touch Elena, claim his ownership over her. He felt a crushing sense of triumph every time she reached back for him, taking his hand in hers as they jumped up through incoming waves.

* * *

Maria had insisted on taking them out to a bar for her birthday and Elena was worried about Klaus in a room full of living, breathing people but she couldn’t exactly use that as an excuse so she agreed. She’d just have to be vigilant about keeping tabs on him. Walking in though, Elena was glad she’d come. The bar was carved into the cliff’s rock, which was at least interesting. Being here made her think of Bonnie and Caroline and the nights they spent dancing with each other, drinking in the woods.

The music was loud enough to be heard from outside. “Maria, you said bar not club,” Elena had to yell.

Maria shrugged, “Same difference?”

Once inside, Klaus grabbed Elena’s hand and lead her to a bartender while Maria led Adrian off to the dance floor. Klaus ordered them drinks and turned to Elena.

“This isn’t precisely what I’d imagined when you’d invited me on this trip.”

“I didn’t!” He looked at her, confused. “I didn’t invite you. You invited yourself.”

Klaus chewed the inside of his cheek. “Would you have me remove myself then?”

“What? No, I didn’t say that. Why are you being weird?” Pouty, he was being pouty, but she didn’t dare say that to his face.

Klaus looked around the room, not entirely sure how to answer her. Dealing with Adrian’s clear feelings was one thing, but Klaus was having difficulty with so many lusty gazes staring at his doppelgänger. 

He leaned into her, brushing her hair past her ear. “You do look stunning, love. Though, I doubt a more obvious statement has ever been said.” Elena felt like a kite, being pulled at by the winds of Klaus. She smoothed her hands over her dress, teal and sparkling cut short on her thighs.

“Thank you,” her mouth felt dry as she took a sip from her drink. “Did you want to dance?”

Klaus appraised the dancing though he wouldn’t have referred to it as that. He wanted to say no, but the thought that she might dance with another was more than he could stomach. He held out his hand as if asking her for a waltz and there was a hint of laughter in her smile. He didn’t mind it as much with her as he would with anyone else, especially not when she so readily took his hand.

The music, Klaus determined, was terrible and he couldn’t understand how ecstatic these humans danced to songs about dying young. The beat, though, he appreciated if not for the way it caused Elena to move against him. Her hands on his chest at first as her hips moved in rhythm. He grabbed her hand and pulled it up and over his shoulder, drawing her in closer to him. He’d have loved to twirl her out and back to him had there been enough space. As it was, people were crowing in far too close for his comfort. But, he supposed, this was part of the new world. Certain aspects, he could never adjust to completely.

Elena couldn’t believe Klaus was out here, dancing with her. It all felt so bizarre even if you took away his desire to kill her ultimately running her out of town when she was just a teenager. He just didn’t seem like much of a dancer in the hours they spend talking over coffee or drinks, or walking from museum to museum. Now, he almost seemed awkward.

She liked how surprised he looked when she turned away from him, dancing against him and molding her body to his. Maria pulled Adrian closer so they could dance in a group. Elena could feel Klaus stiffen behind her before he draped his arm across her chest. For the first time in recent memory, she felt like she did in Mystic Falls with her friends, before the supernatural invaded her life. She liked being a part of this foursome, mouthing the lyrics with Maria and encouraging Klaus’s hands on her body. In this moment, she felt normal.

She reached her arms up and caressed his face before her hands settled on his neck. He moved her heavy curtain of hair out of the way and leaned, kissing her neck softly. His hand drifted down to the hem of Elena’s dress, playfully tugging upward.

“You’re bold,” she whispered, turning her face to the side and into his chest.

“Oh Elena dear, you’ve no idea”

She froze. Not because of anything Klaus was doing, but she had spotted a woman in the corner of the bar. She’d seen the same woman at the beach earlier and hadn’t thought much of it, outside of how weird she’d looked standing next to the other tourists. But the way she looked at Elena now was giving her pause.

_Recognition paved into a cut-throat certainty._

No, Bonnie’s spell should have worked. Should be working. Elena watched in horror as the woman kicked off the wall and started making her way towards them. It could be nothing, or it could be a passenger. Elena knew that the ring was only supposed to make her face look different enough that she wouldn’t immediately be recognized, but maybe they’d done magic of their own or maybe the ring only works briefly and not if they stand staring at her like creeps.

She turned back around, facing the more attractive of the two evils. She reached down and grabbed Klaus by the belt, pulling him closer as she wrapped her free arm around his neck. “Take me home?”

_Save me?_

“My pleasure,” he purred. She locked eyes with Maria and motioned to the door to indicate her intention. Maria waved her off and went back to grinding on Adrian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hopefully posting 2-3 chapters a day isn't too overwhelming. Trying to play catch up to where I'm at on other places.


	11. Castles Made of Sand

They stumbled through the entry way, bodies intertwined as if breaking contact would release them from a spell they cast more than a month ago. Klaus kept trying to keep his hands on Elena as she guided him to the back bedroom, leading him with feather light kisses on his lips, jaw, and neck while he attempted to urge her into a deeper passion. His hands gripped her hips, traversing the valleys and hills of her body hungrily.

Elena hadn’t completely thought this through. She needed to get out of the club quickly without him realizing that anything was wrong, but she hadn’t quite been prepared for how ready Klaus was for this moment to happen until they’d gotten into the cab. His hands sliding up her inner thigh had almost unraveled her resolve. She kept erasing and re-drawing the line, it was becoming too blurry even to her. She was trying to satisfy him with soft kisses, but it was becoming dangerously clear to her that it wasn’t going to cut it. And she wasn’t sure that was all she really wanted either.

Once inside, Klaus locked the door, wary of undesired interruptions, and turned his gaze back on Elena. She shivered, unsure of if it was fear or anticipation. Both, she decides as he stalks towards her.

His hands on her jaw tilt her face upwards so he can explore her mouth more easily. Her lips are still sore from the day before and surprisingly, she moans at the mix of pain and pleasure. Klaus smiles to himself, satisfied and pleased. Her hands wander up and into his shirt, running them up and down along the firm muscled wall and around to his back. It encourages him deeper in the kiss and he uses his thigh to separate her legs more, needing her to yield completely to him. She almost yelps in surprise, shocked to find just how excited he is to be here with her.

She reaches up to grab a handful of his dark golden curls, pulling him deeper in the kiss. He grabs her hands, pining her wrists together up and over her hand. He likes that she fights back a little. Klaus never wanted anything to come to easily for him. He uses this opportunity to lay claiming kisses along her neck and lower without her hands distracting him. His attentions consume her so completely that Elena barely registers when Klaus has gotten down on his knees in front of her, lifting her dress up and over her hips. His hands warm up her body even as the fabric tickles its way up her legs.

She swallows hard and looks down, shifting her weight uneasily. She wants to run. She wants to go back to the café that day and chose to leave early, avoiding him altogether. She wants to have taken Bonnie and Elijah’s advice and left Sicily weeks ago. But she didn’t. She chose this, yesterday and today.

_And tomorrow?_

His eyes leave her just long enough to slide her underwear down, past her knees to hang loosely around her ankles. His fingers massage up her thighs, achingly slow, until they reach that wonderful heat in the middle. His thumb circles her, teasing her into a throbbing silence. She hasn’t made a noise since he stopped kissing her, but Klaus is determined to change that. Quickly, he plunges two fingers into her, expertly swirling, curling, and rotating. Encouraging her to let him know how she enjoys him there. Her hands reach down, nails scratching his scalp a she holds on to his hair. He smirks, looking up at her face thrown back up to the heavens.

He removes his hand, circling the inside of her knee and he enjoys the disappointed look she gives him thinking that they are done. In that moment, Klaus promises himself that he will never be done with her and, swiftly, he moves one of her long legs to hook up around his shoulder. His stubble scratches up her thighs. His lays his lips on her, licks and nibbles at her, tasting her completely. He likes how aggressively she holds on to him, grabbing handfuls of his hair in an attempt to ground herself in something. Her heel digs satisfyingly into his muscled back. Nothing is successful as he sends her flying with his mouth and tongue, his free hand possessively grabbing the curve of her ass. He wants to hear his name.

She’s never felt more powerful or desired than here in this moment with him as he worships her body with his lips and tongue. She’s withholding from him unintentionally until he lands just at the right spot and her pleasure rises up from low in her body through her throat. She moans for him, but she’s too afraid to speak. She isn’t in the right headspace to keep up with their game.

Frustratingly, they are interrupted before he gets the chance to coax it out of her. 

“Elena? Nik?” She hears Maria calling for them from the front of the house. Her body stiffens, but Klaus continues, doing his best to ignore the intruders. Focusing only on the woman in front of him. Elena secures a hand over her mouth, attempting to stifle herself, which only encourages Klaus further trying to topple her façade of composure.

Suddenly, there is a knock at the door and the knob turns, halted by the lock. “Elena?” This time it was Adrian. Klaus growled between her legs and Elena wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone look sexier or more deadly.

He leans his cheek to her thigh, kissing her with shiny lips. His lip twitches and she wonders if he can hear her blood pulsing there at her artery. Wonders what it be like if he bit into her now. She slides her leg off of him, unnerved by her own fantasy.

Her eyes are transfixed on him as he stands up to meet her gaze. He leans into her, pressing his lips to hers. They kiss until she can no longer taste herself on him and then he breaks off from her, his temple pressed to hers as he fights to calm his ragged breathing.

When he’s composed he looks back up at her. “There’s no going back now, Elena. I won’t allow it. This is but a reprieve.” It sounds like a mix between a promise and a threat.

* * *

The next day was awkward after the disruption of the night before. They spent a majority of it, sleeping in and lazing about the town, sunning themselves on the beach or napping on the couches. Klaus is unsuccessful in getting Elena alone, despite his earnest efforts. He is ambitiously attempting for a repeat.

Maria makes a birthday dinner that evening for Elena and had surprised everyone with decorative cannoli from a nearby shop.

As they talked over food, Klaus trailed his fingers up and down Elena’s leg under the table, dipping into her inner thigh every so often. His touch was electric and made her feel needy for more, even as she was trying her best to pay attention the conversation. She leaned into him, taking any excuse to look at him and linger on him even as the conversation moved past her.

“Twenty-seven now, right Elena?” Maria smiled. She was a good, welcoming person. She reminded Elena a little of Caroline, enthusiastic and optimistic.

“Yeah, it’s weird to think about. It feels like a countdown to thirty.”

"I am not ready for that!” Maria shrieked.

And they all laughed, except Klaus who would never know what it meant to age. But, he thought, Elena would. If he let her, that is. She’d grow old and wrinkled with the joy and sadness that life etched on her face. He was certain she’d still be beautiful. Klaus had a hard time envisioning it, wanting her to be like this forever in his mind.

* * *

After the dinner, the small group made their way down to the beach where Maria had arranged a small bonfire, another check mark that aligned her with Caroline in Elena’s mind. Both women were professional organizers, efficient and fun. And great friends even if Elena wouldn’t let Maria get that close.

Klaus admired the way the fire played across Elena’s face. It reflected in her brown eyes drawing him further in. They were sitting on the sand, his arms outstretched as he leaned back. Elena was leaning into the curve of his body without actually touching him and Klaus appreciated the ease with which she relaxed into him. Though he would have appreciated the feel of her body against his, she didn’t seem as comfortable around him in the presence of others. It made him feel petulant and he considered kissing her here in front of Adrian to see how she’d react.

Maria brought out a small speaker for some music and pulled Adrian up to his feet to dance. He laughed and danced around the fire with his friend. As they circled back around to Elena, Adrian held out his hands to her.

“Dance with us, birthday girl!”

Elena looked back at Klaus and he nodded, as if to say go on without him. She stood up and brushed the sand off her legs. Adrian took her hand in his and twirled her around, eliciting a jovial laugh. Maria grabbed her face and kissed her on both cheeks.

“Happiest of birthdays to our wonderful, new friend.”

They danced some more as Klaus watched on. Elena smiled down at him, willing him to come take his place next to her. She felt hands snaking first around her waist and she peered over her shoulder to see which of her friends it could be. Adrian pulled her towards him, hand on her cheek, as he leaned in to steal a kiss. His kiss felt clumsy and too forced, stumbling blindly into what Adrian must have thought was passion. He was too drunk from dinner. She could taste it on him. Elena pushed him and tried to laugh it off, her eyes searching for Klaus.

“Happy birthday to Elena!” Adrian shouted.

Klaus was enraged, imaging digging his hand into the other man’ chest, ripping out his still-beating heart. It was, he would note later, a moment of déjà vu.

_Was he so childish in his crush on Tatia? Did she push him off so easily? Did Elijah want to rip his own heart out when he, Klaus, stole a similar kiss?_

In the moment, Klaus didn’t care for any introspection. He craved violence. Adrian’s saving grace was that Klaus wasn’t quite ready to reveal his true nature to Elena. Instead, he trudged off into the dark, vowing to destroy the man another night.

Elena followed after him quickly, but the blood pounding in his head distracted him enough to not notice. She grabbed his shoulder and force him to look at her.

“What’s wrong with you?” her eyes implored him for an answer.

“What’s wrong with you?! You freely allow him a kiss, Elena!” he leaned in closer, in a whisper, “Do you just let any man do anything they want to you? Are you so wanton? Was last night not enough? You thirst for more attention?” She reared back and slapped him, cleanly across the face. Her wrist stung but it was worth it. She’d have done it again.

Klaus grabbed her wrist tightly, gritted his teeth. “Don’t ever do that to me.”

“I won’t,” she hissed, jabbing his chest with her finger, “If you don’t imply that about me ever again. I didn’t let him do anything. It just happened. What was I supposed to do? Hit him?”

“You could, if you wanted. You did just now. With me.” It sounded churlish, even to Klaus.

“Look, Nik, he’s drunk. It isn’t an excuse, but I’m not about to start a fight with anyone over something that doesn’t mean anything to me. Especially not when they are leaving tomorrow and probably won’t remember it.”

“How can that,” he gestured back to the bonfire, “not mean anything to you?”

“Because it doesn’t. I’m a grown woman! I can’t control what other people do or try to do. Did it make me uncomfortable, yes. Will I talk to him later when he is sober? Yes! But there isn’t much to do now. Do you know how often men do shit like that? I can’t fight every single person who acts like that. I’m upset and annoyed, but he doesn’t mean that much to me.”

“Do I?”

He was so quiet that she’d almost missed it in the roar of the waves crashing into the sand. The way he looked at her nearly broke her in half. She sighed and reached out to him, tilted his face down to look at hers. “Nik, I’m beyond confused by what is happening here with you. But yes, you do mean something to me. You are possibly the first person I’ve met who’s meant anything to me, in a long time.” Her throat felt raw and she looked away, trying to blink back tears.

He reached out, stroking her hair. “I wish you weren’t so anguished, Elena dear.”

“You’re the one anguishing me so,” she spoke, attempting to mimic his affectation and accent.

He laughed, half-heartedly, and there was an expanse of silence between the two of them. Eventually, he sat back down on the sand, staring off at the ocean black as night. She took up her spot next to him, gathering up courage to ask the question that had been burning in her brain.

She reached down to grab his hand in hers, fingers intertwining like vines. He looked down, surprised in the same way he was on the plan when she’d caressed her fingers through his hair. They sat like that, together watching the waves break into white foam at the shoreline. Each entranced as if the water could give them some kind of life-defining answer that their insecure hearts desired.

“What do I mean to you?” she finally asked and he didn’t have an answer, not one he’d be willing to share.

Instead, he grabbed her arm and pulled her on top of his lap. “I want you, love,” he said, his face buried in her chest.

“I know that, but for what?”

He pulled her knees alongside his hips, pulling her closer to him. She leaned down and kissed his wild hair, her fingers gripping the back of his neck. “Isn’t this enough for now?” he asked.

It wasn’t, but she knew she didn’t dare ask for more. It would be foolish. “For now,” she agreed as she held him, right next to her heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do love writing Klaus into scenarios to make him jealous.


	12. To Know Him Is To Love Him

The goodbyes the next morning were short and clipped with tension. Adrian had apologized profusely to Elena and Maria looked generally annoyed. Klaus chose to busy himself in the shower for the occasion lest he lose himself and paint the walls red with Adrian’s blood. At least he could pretend the warm water running down his back was something else without horrifying Elena. 

He chuckled to himself as Elena swung around the corner, holding onto the doorframe.

“Hey!” she stumbled over her words. “Oh, I’m s-sorry. I should have knocked.” His towel hung low on his waist, hair clinging to his neck.

“Whatever for, dear?”

Her hand shot up to cover her eyes and she felt just as old as when she used to do that for her parents during kissing scenes in movies.

“Do you want to help me with breakfast?” Klaus smiled and let himself imagine a world where this was his every day. A simple world filled with conversation, pleasure and her.

He dressed quickly and followed her into the kitchen, where she’d already laid out everything to make an easy omelet. She picked up two coffee cups and offered him one. His fingers lingered on hers, “I preferred sharing, love.” She blushed at their contented closeness that had been developing over the last month.

She hooked her arm around his neck and leaned in to kiss him on the check. Klaus couldn’t remember the last time a woman just kissed him without trying to initiate anything further.

“Your embarrassment seems to have worn off.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed. I was surprised. Big difference,” she defended.

They took their plates out to the patio, the morning sun reflecting back up and making everything seem so filled with potential. Elena loved mornings like this, they held so much promise.

“You seem so captured by the ocean,” he commented.

“I am. It’s just so beautiful here. I want to take it all in, last morning and everything. Have you had a good time?”

“I’m having a wonderful time, right now.” His comment was pointed. He hadn’t enjoyed the other people being there.

“I’m sorry about Adrian. I don’t know what got into him.”

“You’re joking, right?” She shook her head and took a sip from her mug. “Elena, that boy was interested in you.”

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“Anyone with eyes and any amount of common sense could have detected that.”

“I don’t like to assume. I prefer people just tell me straight out how they feel.”

“So, then you are intentionally keeping yourself in the dark?”

She didn’t like how easily he’d come to assess her in the seemingly short amount of time they’d spent with one another. At least, she didn’t like it now when she felt like he was laying out a flaw so brazenly.

“You seemed to be having a pretty good time the other night.” She chose a topic change in an effort to avoid confrontation.

“Briefly, yes. Until we were interrupted just so we could join in on a silly card game. And then you had the gall to force me back on the couch.” His voice was snide at first, but then he leaned in, “I’d much rather we had the opportunity to finish what we started. You’d not so easily abandon me a second time, I wage.”

_How could he make her shiver even now in the morning heat?_

With the sun shining and the warm ocean air on her skin. She was tired of this effect he had on her, especially with feeling like she had no effect on him. It was time, she resolved, to flip the script.

She stood up and walked over the open door, leaning against the white wall where the red flowers snaked up, growing on the vine. She hoped that the stark contrast of her dark hair and tanned skin against the bright white wall would draw him in to her. She wanted to create a vision worthy enough for one his paintings.

“So, then finish it.” She left him with those words as she walked to the back bedroom and into the bathroom. 

Days earlier, she’d noted the open shower. Curved glass encased the shower, offering absolutely no privacy. She’d been so careful to shower early in the morning, quickly before Klaus had woken up. Now, she was hoping for less privacy, hoping he would know to follow her.

Klaus was many things. A terrible monster, a man quick to a defensive anger, possessive and arrogant. Klaus was all those things and more, but he was not stupid.

He slowly got up and walked into the house, lingering to allow her time to lay out her unnecessary snare. It was too late for him. He smiled at each piece of her outfit she’d shed. The lacy top in the living room, the jean shorts in the hallway. He smirked at the bra hanging on the bedroom door. His smile fell a little when he opened the door, expecting to find her in bed. Until he heard the shower running.

“You have an admirable imagination.” He pushed the bathroom door open, his mouth hanging open as he caught sight of her through the steam.

Elena was already in the shower, she stood with her hip popped to the side, her leg bent. Framing just how long her legs were. Her arms were up over hear head, lifting her breasts up as the water ran down her torso. She’d raised her mass of wet, dark hair off her back and looked back at Klaus. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen anyone strip their clothes off quicker than Klaus in that moment. She wondered if he’d use some of vampire speed or if that was just entirely a male response. She laughed when he snagged his heels on his pants trying to yank them off.

“Don’t laugh at me, love. I’ll make you regret it.”

Before she knew it, he was in the shower, kissing her. She loved how plump his lips were, how easy they were to capture between her teeth. His hands wandered down, giving an appreciative squeeze of her rear before reaching down to her legs, trying to lift her up. She could already feel his erection between her legs, but she wasn’t quite ready. She broke the kiss abruptly, slipping out of his grip. She could have sworn she heard him snarl.

“I think I’d like some payback.”

Klaus was confused for just a moment until Elena went to her knees, mimicking him from the other night. Klaus moved to stand in front of the shower head, stopping the water from hitting her with his back. Her fingers were gentle, but firm as she grabbed the length of him, hardening with anticipation. When she took him in her mouth, exploring him with her tongue and experimenting with how deep she could take him in, Klaus swore in a few languages. His arms shot out to either side of the shower wall, attempting to hold himself steady in place for her. 

She felt a sense of pride, in making him come unwound this way. She flicked her tongue a few times over his tender tip, her hand still on him, pulsing and stroking him up and down.

This time, she was sure it was his vampire powers as he sped to pick her up by her upper arms. He pushed her against the tile as he lifted, her legs wrapping instinctively around his waist. She kissed at the water dripping down his face and worried, briefly, that he had changed his mind somehow. The way he looked at her was strange, as if he was seeing her for the first time. He held such a raw need in his eyes for something more than her body and Elena thought to ask him about it. The thought vanished as he eased himself into her. Achingly slow before withdrawing only to push in further until he was completely inside.

His face was just inches away from hers. She could tell he was fighting with himself. His blue eyes taking on a darker shade. He pushed her wet hair out of her face and behind her ear. “Elena..”

He found a rhythm that suited her well, thrusting in and out as she managed to move to encourage his pace, needing him faster.

As her pleasure mounted, he became unraveled. Driving into her with an overwhelming need to meld their bodies together. Nothing about it was gentle. She screamed out his name and Klaus, again, found himself wishing she was using his preferred name.

His arms are strong around her, holding steady as she transfers her pleasure into long scratches up his back. When he draws out of her only to push himself roughly back in, over and over, it sends her over the edge. He captures her mouth with his as she screams out an orgasm. She bucks against him, filling herself up with him. His arms seem impossibly strong as he holds her up through it all. She feels safe, the idea that he could hold her there forever turning her on even more.

She moans and draws his head down to her neck. He hovers for a moment, wanting so badly to taste her. And it seems as if she is offering herself to him. He decides against it and bites her shoulder without breaking the skin as he buries himself further in her. She screams again, the mix of pain and pleasure swirling under her skin like a tumultuous storm heating her up from the inside.

He is quick to follow her, unable to hold himself back after witnessing how she can’t. He shudders inside her and Elena has a brief thought about how irresponsible it all was until she remembered he was a vampire and couldn’t possibly get her pregnant.

With his head leaned into her shoulder, his breathe labors into her skin, so loved by him. His wet curls tickle her chin and she traces out the tattoo on his back. He shivers under her touch and she feels utterly satisfied.

Afterwards, they lay on top of the sheets, their bodies intertwined as they dried. Elena was busy tracing the crevices and planes of his chest while his eyes followed her diligently. 

“Tell me about your life.”

Elena didn’t mind the question, even if it is more of a demand. She just wishes he’d share more of himself. “I’ve already told you about my family. It’s complicated. We moved a lot.”

“Tell me about the other stuff. What were you like before? Your friends? Did you ever love anyone?”

She thought about how she could tell him about the year before she left without revealing how much she knew about his world. “Well, I was happy. At first, before my parents died. I partied with my friends in the woods. Danced. Drank too much. I dated a boy I’d known since I was a kid. But then when my parents…well I couldn’t be the same person. I just wasn’t. Something like that changes you. I was sad, of course. But worse, I think I was constantly worried about losing someone I loved.”

Klaus nodded, completely understanding that fear. “So, you loved this boy?”

“I loved Matt, but I don’t know that I was in love with him. I loved him as much as I could at that age. I was in love with the next one. But then I left and we tried to stay in touch, but..,” she drifted off, tapping some unknown code on his chest trying to find the words. After some length of time she said, “I guess the older I got, the less it made sense to me. I had wanted nothing more than to be with him, but then I couldn’t. I was a different person, again.”

She shifted against him, molding her body more closely to his. “Tell me about you. Please? You don’t really talk about yourself. Have you ever been in love?”

Looking down at her, the earnest way she looked at him moved Klaus. “Yes, I’ve been in love. A few times. The first one. Everyone was so infatuated with her. Myself and my brother.” Elena’s eyebrows crinkled together. Elijah hadn’t told her this part of Tatia’s story. “I don’t think, at the time, I wanted to see it. She only loved my brother. It didn’t stop me from chasing her though.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes, I have brothers. And a sister.”

“Do you…get along with them?”

“At times, I like to think so, but at the moment we aren’t close.”

His answers were getting frustratingly short. She wishes she’d kept him on the topic of love since he seemed to reward her with better answers.

“Why did you leave me that night? When I was sick?”

“Did that really bother you so much?” She nodded, remembering her barb from the other day. “In truth, love, I don’t know. I thought the worst of you that night. I thought you’d left without saying good-bye. And then you were there. I couldn’t just leave you to take care of yourself. It didn’t look like you were doing an outstanding job of that.”

He shifted to his side, so he could hold her and see her. “I should have stayed until you woke, Elena. But even a man such as myself gets…” He trailed off, unable to say the words.

“Scared?” she offered.

“I suppose so. But not quite.”

“Do I scare you?”

“In a way, yes,” he admitted.

“How do I scare you?”

“I worry that you’ll be my undoing. And I’m scared that I won’t care.”

The space between them grew as she considered this. It felt like the most truthful thing he’d ever told her.

“I’m scared too,” she offered, hoping to connect with him.

“What are you scared of, sweetheart?”

“You.” And what I feel for you, she thought.

“I would never do anything to frighten you,” he vowed, but she worried that it was a promise he couldn’t keep. Not when he’d been her personal boogeyman for so long.

* * *

Later, they lay out on the beach watching the sun go down on an old blanket she’d found in an ottoman. Elena felt sore in the best kind of way. In a way that makes her feel so alive. Each ache reminds her of him and she wishes that none of this had to end, to stay with Klaus on this beach forever. In this seclusion, she imagines that it is the outside world that is dangerous and not him.

Klaus is playing with her hair, wild and untamed. They are enjoying lightly touching each other, carefully exploring each other. She wishes she could be a simple woman, laying on the sand with her lover.

“Would tell me what I mean to you?” She is careful not to look at him, concentrating on the pattern of birds flying off into his collarbone. Trying to play it off as if she’s only mildly interested. “It’s just that, I don’t think knowing you want me is enough for now.”

He looks up into her dark eyes, his palm guiding her face to look into his, and professes, “Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss…” He pulled her lips down to meet his and rewarded her with a soft, tender kiss. She delights in his tenderness as much as she finds pleasure in his roughness.

She pulled up laughing, “What was that, Nik?”

“Marlowe’s _Doctor Faustus_. The first scene in act five with Helen’s shade.”

Elena swallowed, feeling cautious of where this was going. After all, wasn’t a doppelgänger like a shade? A shadow self that was useful only for one thing, destined to be extinguished in the light of day.

He continued, “You are my Helen, Elena. In so many ways.”

“Are you going to abscond with me in the night? Steal me away?” She goes for breezy, but Klaus can tell he’s hit a nerve.

“No, love, it is you who has absconded with my heart I’m afraid.” He reaches back up to hold her face in his hand. “Though, I would gladly start wars for you. To have you at my side, always.”

Elena knows what that means, coming from him. Everything she’s read about him, everything Elijah has told her about him. Warned her about. She should start running now. She should call Bonnie right away and tell her she’s in too deep. She needs help, but she doesn’t want it. “I wouldn’t want you to spill blood on my account,” she tells him, feebly. She doesn’t believe he would change his nature at her request.

“Oh, I very much doubt that.” His hand trails down her neck until he is pointing at her heart. “You are a woman who wields power well.” 

She is both flattered and concerned about how he perceives her.

Later, after Klaus had gone to sleep, Elena looked up the play he had referenced earlier on her phone. The light of the screen uncomfortably pierces the calming darkness. The same speech Klaus had recited those lines from later references Jupiter and Semele. Elena struggles to swallow the feeling she gets from that information.

She knew her mythology. How could she not when she was part of one?

_Would she die too, like Semele after Jupiter revealed his true self to her? Could she survive him?_

He shifted against her, his arms wrapped around her stomach, possessive and claiming. She had the urge to run, her legs stretched out ahead of her, moving her body inches away from his. She was sleeping next to her destruction. He pulled her in even closer and suddenly his hold on her feels more like a bear trap.

_When exactly had she started considering him to be more than her destroyer?_


	13. Some Unholy War

_Somewhere Between Amalfi and Venice, 2019_

Elena had assured Klaus that she’d be returning to Palermo when they left the house. She couldn’t recall the last time someone had taken her to the airport or train station, tasks that she’d managed alone.

“Are you so ready to part, Elena? My offer has no expiration.”

She laughed at his persistence and leaned a hand against his chest. “I’m sure, Nik. I’ll just be in Venice for a couple days. I’ll let you know when I’m back home.”

He nodded as his thumb stroked her wrist. “The days will stretch into weeks.”

Though she found it endearing that he offered to take the train with her to Venice, she couldn’t imagine how Bonnie would react. Or Damon. She hadn’t even considered if Bonnie had mentioned Klaus being on this trip to Damon, who was always so quick to judge her choices. She settled into the seat and nestled her jacket in between her and the window.

As the train took off, so did her mind into a landscape of unfulfilled promises.

* * *

_Atlanta, Georgia 2011_

About a year after her family had fled, Stefan actually found her. He had kept to his word and waited until Klaus had showed up. Elena was horrified when he told her what had happened with Caroline. But, she felt relieved that Stefan had stayed in town long enough to help Caroline with the transition. His immense capacity for kindness is what had drawn her to him in the first place.

Stefan said things were rough between the new vampire and Bonnie. Bonnie hadn’t been warm to the vampires from the beginning and between the nightmare of Klaus, the Salvatores tugging at Elena at either side and one of her best friends turning, it was all too much. Elena tried to understand how she might feel, but any time she looked at Stefan she couldn’t help feel captivated by his palpable humanity. How could they be monsters? Not Stefan.

They spent several weeks together in Atlanta. The aquarium was her favorite place to be with him, washed in the subdued blue lights almost made her forget the reality of her life. She entertained the idea that she could be with him like this, forever.

Then, Stefan got a call from Damon. Caroline was having issues with her mom. Finding out what she was, they weren’t sure if she would go to the town council or not.

“Go,” she said. “I’ll be waiting.” She could match his compassion with her own.

* * *

_Odessa, Texas 2013_

Its two years before Stefan finds them again, this time in a small oil town in the middle of nowhere. Elena is on the cusp of her twenty-first birthday and she feels entirely different than she did at seventeen. She's stronger and more sure of herself. Still, when she sees Stefan standing at her front door, she remembers what they used to feel like. How he used to make her feel.

She jumps into his arms, covering him in kisses between squeals. He laughs and holds her like a flotation device in the middle of a storm. He holds her like he’s trying to remember how she made him feel. Later, he tells her about what’s been happening back home. Bonnie left town at one point to find her mother, with Damon’s help. Elena is shocked, but Stefan explains how they’ve developed a friendship. Elena figures it is impossible to not be friends after all the times they’ve both saved the other from a dangerous situation.

“They’re really more like partners, honestly,” he says. Elena can hear the jealousy in his voice as much as she feels it in her heart. Caroline is with Tyler now. She’s been there for him through each full moon the same way Stefan was there for her when she turned. Elena wishes she could be there to see them together. It must be like town royalty, she muses.

This time, Stefan stays with them for several months. It all feels so normal to her. She likes how easily he’s integrated himself into her family. She begins wondering about their future together. If she could still be with Stefan forever and mean it.

She’s about to bring it up to him, but then Damon calls. It’s not Caroline this time. It’s Bonnie messing with some form of magic that has Damon worried about her. Stefan apologizes and promises to come back as quickly as he can. He leaves before she can bring up forever and she realizes that his brother will always be his priority. It feels like the recent months have been a break from his real life, something she no longer has a place in. When he leaves, it feels like he takes a piece of her with him.

* * *

_Bend, Oregon, 2015_

She doesn’t know this is the last time he’ll come for her until a months after he’s gone. It feels so awkward, the distance between the two of them. He kisses her and she tries to not think about how he still looks seventeen. And she knows that he will always be older, but for some reason she just feels older now. Every time she brings it up, he finds a new way to distract her. He tells her about Caroline and Tyler having issues. Bonnie moving into the boarding house and insisting nothing is happening, but Stefan hears her sneak to Damon’s room at night.

It’s during a quiet moment on a hike that he finally lets her bring it up.

“Stefan, I’ll always love you.”

“Don’t, Elena.”

“No, I have to do this. I don’t know who I’d be if you hadn’t come into my life. I’d be dead, but other than that…no, you mean so much to me.” She held his face between her hands. It pained her to know that he’d always be like this even as she kept aging.

His lips quiver as he fails miserably to hide his emotion.

“You are the kindest, most amazing person I’ve ever known. I wish I could have known you back then. I wish things were different, but this is just too hard, Stefan. For both of us. You deserve a love that makes you laugh and I just…don’t do that for you anymore. Stefan, I can’t do this.”

“I know.” It’s all he says even as he holds on to her for hours. After he leaves, she thinks that it is something they both needed, but only she was willing to say it. Noble Stefan was too honorable to break her heart. But she wasn’t. Even as final as it felt, she still thinks that maybe he’ll come back for her. The thought is lodged far back in her head.

Months later, she’d meet Elijah and each moment with him faded Stefan back into the recesses of her heart. That thought is buried under the expanse and promise of her future.

* * *

_Venice, Italy 2019_

Bonnie knocks into her as soon as she gets off the train, almost lifting her off the ground. The two best friends laugh as they lean back to look at each other. Damon stands off at a short distance, neither wanting to intrude nor give too much of a berth for potential danger.

“I heard you were messing around with the Big Bad Wolf,” he smirks. Elena blushes in response before remembering that they don’t actually know everything, yet.

They spend so much of the day just catching up, as if they were normal people living average lives. Elena feels an ache in her chest when she spots the small, careful ways Damon watches out for Bonnie, keeping his arm around her or when he gets up to order her another drink. How Bonnie feels so at ease with the vampire that she instinctively leans in to him. She wishes she had been there to watch their relationship grow, for the beginning moments when Bonnie would have been so giddy and anxious and excited. She wishes that she’d never left so she could have shared in their happiness. She also craves to feel that way about someone, trusting them so entirely.

It’s when she is relaxed on the couch of their hotel that Bonnie springs her ideas on Elena. “Okay, so I was doing some research on the charm I used on your ring and I think there is a way I could make it stronger.”

“Won’t that be just a stop-gap? I mean, as long as there is a living doppelgänger, they will keep trying to find me.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing, ‘Lena. Or! You could come home and let us protect you.” Elena laughs, a little exasperated. The whole point of her living like this was protecting them. She couldn’t just change her mind and put everyone at risk.

“You know that I can’t.”

“You know what I can’t understand?” Damon swings wide around the couch, settling next to Bonnie with his arm draped over her shoulder. “What is it you are doing with Klaus?”

“I was…charming him. And then I was going to make up a normal reason to move and hope that he didn’t follow me?” She realizes how stupid that sounds now. She may have been doing that for the first week, but she knows it’s carried on too long.

“Right…” Damon shifts forward a little, “It’s just seems weird. You running from the Travelers and I thought Klaus too. Why tempt him? Just leave. Now. Don’t go back like you told him and leave with us. Bonnie and I can get you set up somewhere else. It’s not like you can’t replace anything.”

“Aren’t you afraid of him?” Bonnie asks.

Elena considers her words, “I’m not not afraid of him. I’m more afraid of them though.”

“What’s the difference? One person who wants to kill you versus a group of people – you are still a dead doppelgänger.” Damon always makes everything sound so simple, easy.

“It’s not who is doing the killing that scares me as much a why.” Their blank stares prompt her to continue. “Klaus kills me and he gets to be a vampire and a werewolf. He gets to be stronger. Cool. Fine. The Travelers get their way and…everything about magic changes. And I don’t know if it would change for the good or bad, but if it starts with death then it can’t be great for the balance of nature. For anyone really, but,” she shakes her head. Her eyes are shimmering with tears when he looks up at her friend, “What would that mean for you?”

Damon glances over quickly at Bonnie and nods toward Elena. Bonnie’s mouth sets tightly against her face, her eyes glaring back.

“What’s going on?”

Bonnie sighs, placing a hand over her chest. “I kept doing research on them. What they wanted to do and what it would mean. I was asking questions that got me noticed by this coven out in Portland. They told me if the Travelers accomplish their goal, it completely wipes out the order of magic as we know it.”

“That sounds terrible, Bon.”

“Oh there’s more to the story.” Damon had that look on his face like he was entertained by something horrible.

“If that happens Elena, anything that was done by magic won’t exist. Vampires would cease to exist.”

“What like poof?”

“More like the weight of all the time they lived past their natural life would come crashing in on them at once. Caroline would fine, but..” Bonnie grimaced as she watched her friend absorb the information.

“Stefan and I would be toast. Which is why oh self-sacrificing one, we need a plan that keeps you out of their hands. Preferably both them and the homicidal maniac you’ve been toying with.”

After Damon leaves to take care of his hunger, Bonnie and Elena settle on the bed as if they were teenagers again. They laugh and talk about her relationship with the vampire. Elena wants so badly to tell her friend about the last week or so with Klaus, but how can she explain anything to Bonnie when she can’t really explain it to herself. She holds it in like so many other things.

“I would have never thought you and Damon would have worked together, but you two are something else. He really cares about you, Bon.”

“I know!” she squeals. “I hated him at first, but I don’t know. Something changed. I see what you saw in him. And I feel so safe with him.”

“Well there is a blurry thin line between love and hate.”

“What about you, Elena. Is there anyone?”

“How could there be? Uh - how’s Caroline?”

“I mean, fine. I’ve seen her happier.”

“Is she still hung up on Tyler?”

“No.” Bonnie says it a little too fast.

“She’s hung up on someone else?” Elena asks.

“Well, it’s just,” Bonnie has trouble getting the words out. “They aren’t saying anything and they won’t admit anything when we ask.” Elena continues looking at her friend, not sure where this is going. “Damon thinks something has happened with her and Stefan.”

Elena nods. She had a feeling, but it wasn’t based on anything solid. They’d spent so much time together as friends, but it was only recently that Caroline refused to talk about him on the phone. Elena can’t help but wish that could have been her, teenage vampire with her vampire boyfriend. Eternal youth and love. Together. For eternity.

“So, why aren’t they saying anything?”

“Oh come on, Elena! Don’t be dense. It’s not a good look for you.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You and Stefan had this epic, tragic love story. Torn apart by forces outside of your control.”

“It wasn’t really like that.” Elena can hear the defensiveness in her own voice and Bonnie gives her a look that only a best friend can. “No, seriously! Yes, I left. That’s true, we were run out of town. But Stefan found me. And then he left and came back. He could have turned me at any point or even just stayed with me instead of going back to Mystic Falls again and again. He made his choice. We both did. And it wasn’t each other.” Bonnie gives her a look that is too close to pity and Elena is already getting upset. “Is that what everyone thinks? That fate came between us? That he’s the reason I’m alone?”

Elena starts laughing as her tears fall. “Bonnie, I let him go and he didn’t come back. I was okay with that choice. I want Stefan to be happy. I want Caroline to be happy even more. Why wouldn’t I want them to be happy together?”

Bonnie holds her friend, fiercely. “Then, why are you crying Elena?”

“I don’t want anyone to be unhappy because of me. All I’ve ever wanted was for everyone to be safe and happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” She starts hiccupping through the tears.

“Elena,” Bonnie says as she strokes her friend’s hair, “Have you ever thought that maybe we’d all gladly trade a little bit of our safety so that we could be happier with you there?”

She tries to respond, but she’s just so exhausted. Of being homesick, of being too scared to stay in one place too long, of running. She’s so tired and she knows that underneath that feeling, she desperately wishes Klaus was the one stroking her hair and telling her that everything will be alright. And that thought twists in her gut even more. He’s the person she wants to choose, but that seems like laughing in the face of everything that has happened. How can she be a compassionate, self-sacrificing friend for all these years and want so badly to be back in his arms? It is wrong, but it doesn’t make her want it any less.


	14. It’s All Over Now

He’d been watching her for days now. Even if he wouldn’t keep his word to her about waiting in Palermo, he’d at least keep the illusion of his word. He had tensed first when seeing Damon, but he quickly realized that the vampire was with the witch. An odd pairing to be sure. Not that witches were always opposed to it, but certainly never a Bennett witch.

Klaus imagined what it would be like to walking by Elena’s side, rounding out the group as they explored the city together. He noted the ease with which she carried herself around them. Nothing like the people that celebrated her birthday with her just days ago. These, he decided, were her real friends.

_I_ _s that why she didn’t invite him here? She was keeping this authentic part of herself from him? She didn’t trust him yet?_

Those thoughts irritated him greatly. He had her, but he wanted all of her. Anything less wasn’t enough for him. He needed her to be as consumed by him as he was by her.

He promised himself that he wouldn’t reveal himself to her in Venice, but he was tested on the third night.

* * *

She was out at a bar with her friends and left without them. As soon as she did, the vampire and witch huddled closer together as if conspiring. It was harder, not impossible, following her now. Crowded streets provided enough of a cover that he lazily follow while getting lost in her. Now, his attention was split between her and not wanting to be exposed that he hadn’t noticed the other vampire approach her until the other predator was right in front of her.

“Bold of you, walking these streets alone.” He was young and far more confident than he had a right to be.

Elena shrugged, “Not really.” She tried to push past him. The wind picked up, her hair and dress lifting off. She leaned into that feeling, as if she could take flight.

“Such a beautiful, stupid girl.”

He grabbed her arms and shoved her against the stone wall. She grimaced but kept quiet, even as his eyes darkened. “Don’t move. Don’t scream.”

She let her face go slack and she repeated the words back to him. As he went in for her neck, she released any tension in her muscles. The dead weight of her body surprised him. She slipped out of his arms just enough to pull her dress up, high over her thighs. She’d kept a stake secured at her thigh with a holster Alaric had made for her twenty-fifth birthday.

When she came up again, standing up, she launched her head up into his chin. Lancing pain shot through her head, but it a worth it just to throw him off balance even a little. Make him angry. Get him to do something stupid. He was stronger, but she was more calculating. No one ever suspected her for anything more than a pretty face. As frustrating as that could be, she would never let that tool go to waste.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry!” she feigned distress. As he came for her again, she held the stake firmly in her hand. He ended up doing most of the work. She used his speed and weight against him as leverage. He sank into her, gasping and she gave that final push. Strangely, this was the part she relished the most though she was only vaguely aware of it herself. She was adept at pushing down the darkest parts of herself.

He slumped completely over her, truly dead now. His body turning grey, black veins spider webbing across his cheeks. This was the part she knew she hated the most. She kneeled down, leaning him against the wall. This was the part where the monsters stopped being monsters and she imagined the person they once were.

* * *

Klaus had been close to intervening, but she dispatched her attacker so quickly. So many truths were bubbling up to the surface now. She knew about vampires. She fights vampires. She wasn’t compelled. Klaus wondered briefly if she was ingesting or wearing vervain. Not that it ultimately mattered.

_Did she have some on her when he compelled her in their early day just a month ago? Had he done it since then?_

He couldn’t remember. It was like trying to remember the last time you took a breath.

The world shifted underneath him. He’d thought she’d shown him her true self and now he knew that he really knew nothing of her. It enraged him, that he could be tricked by such a fragile human. No, he corrected himself, not a human a doppelgänger. A much more deceptive creature.

He growled then, low in his throat threatening to bubble up to the surface to become a roar. He resumed following her through the streets, this time not enjoying himself nearly as much as he was before. He needed to see everything.

* * *

When she got to Elijah’s flat, she felt so exhausted. He answered the door, still in his suit but without a tie. She smiled, comforted by the idea that at least Elijah would never change. She’d been dealing with Bonnie passively aggressively trying to get her to come home and Damon trying to interrogate her on what she’d been doing with Klaus. After Elijah had let her know he was in town, she made up an excuse for her friends so she could spend a couple of hours with him.

She held on to him so tight, the adrenaline from killing the vampire slowly dissipating from her body, leaking from her pores. 

“Are you alright, Elena? You smell-”

“Wonderful? Thanks, you too,” she teased.

She always enjoyed the way he smelled, like sailing. Expensive wood and the ocean. The many times he’d comforted her over the years, holding her close, she leaned into that smell. She looked up at him and, as always, felt safe and relieved.

“I have a present for you,” he spoke suddenly, breaking their eye contact.

“You really didn’t have to Elijah.” She curled herself up on his couch, pulling a throw over her legs. Both to comfort herself and to hide the scratches she had earned in her fight. Unlike Alaric, Elijah disapproved of her willingness to confront danger head on.

“I know. I wanted to do this.” He handed her a frame, inside was a paper with scribblings on it. Lines crossed out. She studied it careful. After several moments, she realized what it was.

“Elijah… is this a Robert Herrick poem?”

“Yes, it is. Do you like it?” He said it as if it was as casual as picking up a snack from the convenience store.

“Is this…his handwriting?” She looked up at him, astounded.

“It is. Just a scrap of paper he jotted down his ideas and lines he liked for _To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.”_

“Yeah, I’d started figuring that out. How did you get this?”

He shrugged in an effort to downplay the significance. “I have a lot of odds and ends that I’ve collected over the years. It’s easy, I suppose, when you’ve lived as long as I have.”

She looked up at him out of the side of her eyes. “This is really great. It’s amazing, honestly. I love it.”

She sat there, reading it over and over, tracing the lines with her finger. Elijah seemed pleased as he watched her.

“You know that I’m not a virgin, Elijah.” She barked a laugh at his disapproving frown. They spent many nights together, intimate but never in that way. It was a wall that he had built for her and she enjoyed launching playful jabs over it occasionally. She got a kick out of making an immortal being blush and stammer.

Before he could answer her, the door shook. A pounding so loud that it felt, to Elena, that the walls of the flat were shaking as well. For a moment, she thought it was an earthquake. It wasn’t until she hear his roaring that she realized it was not an ordinary disaster. 

“ _Eeeeliiiiijaaah!”_ he roared, his fists pounding on the door. His brother opened the door without the decency to even look ashamed. Elena stood behind him, a few feet back into the apartment. Good, he thought, she looks scared.

He walked inside, pushing past his more composed brother. “Good, you’ve met my doppelgänger. How long have you been following me? When did you reach out to dear Elena?” He paced the room like a wild animal, making wide repeating circles. “Dearest Elena,” he mocked, “You must know the monster that is my brother. Please let me save you. Run away with me.”

“Niklaus, it isn’t like that.”

“Oh please, save your energy! When were you in Palermo? When did you decide to interfere in my plans again? Was this meeting just tonight? How easily were you convinced by him, Elena?”

“Niklaus…”

“Answer me!” He rushed the older man, pushing him against a bookshelf. Several works falling out of their places, like heavy raindrops on his back.

Elijah grabbed him by the lapels of his jack, lifting him ever so slightly up before rushing him forward to the coffee table, splintering it in half with the force of his body slamming down into it. Klaus snarled and Elena retreated further back.

“Someone had to protect her!” Elijah’s hands wrapped around his younger brother’s throat.

“Let! Me! Go!”

“I can’t let you hurt her Niklaus.” Elijah was calm, in control, in comparison to the writhing, spitting beast beneath him.

Klaus’s fingers found a broken shard of wood, big enough to use. He jammed it in his brother’s ribcage. He smirked at the satisfying grunt it elicited. Elijah’s grip loosened and Klaus took the opportunity to shove him off and moved swiftly to stand opposing both his brother and Elena.

“Tell me then. Did she let you fuck her too? Did she remind you of Tatia and Katerina so? You couldn’t help yourself. I have to say, I see the appeal.” He taunted.

“Klaus!” Elena finally spoke up. “It really isn’t like that. I met Elijah years ago. We…we are just friends.” She was angry, but more than that she wanted to try de-escalating the situation.

Klaus shuddered. “What did you call me, Elena?”

Suddenly he was up against her, the wind he created whipping her hair up around her face. “Klaus,” she whispered.

“How long have you known?” At first she didn’t answer, until he repeated his question in a scream. “I said how long! Answer me!”

“I always knew. I knew from the beginning who you are.” She looked everywhere else, but at him. He kept trying to capture her gaze without putting his hands on her. He was afraid of what he might do, recklessly, if he touched her.

_Kiss her to claim her or kill her._

Nostrils flared, “So none of it was real. You played me. You lied to me.” They weren’t questions.

“No!” she protested, “It was real.”

“You played me a fool, love. Tell me did you have a laugh at my expense? Call your friends to brag about it?”

She didn’t like how he said love this time, like a threat. “Yes, I played you and I wasn’t entirely truthful, but everything that happened with us was real.”

“Those two things can’t possibly be true, Elena.” His fingers played lightly on her chin, he couldn’t help himself even now.

“Yes, they can if you-.“ Before she could get the words out, he pulled her in for a kiss. His mouth was hot on hers, angry and punishing. She pulled back when he bit into her, her mouth pooling with blood. Black eyes staring back at her.

She held her mouth and stumbled away from him. He advanced on her, but was blocked. Damon was in front of her, pushing her back away from Klaus.

“Elena, care to introduce me to your friend?” His shoulders were squared, his face set in stone. Klaus chuckled, the idea that this young vampire posed any threat to him. He leaned past Damon’s shoulder to capture her attention, fully this time. It was the first time she looked right at him since he stormed into his brother’s home. He wanted her to be scared of him and he was used to getting what he wanted. Even so, it wasn’t enough.

“You and I have business to see to, Elena dear.” She swallowed hard, tasting metal. That could mean any number of things, but none of them good she knew. Before she could answer though, Klaus grabbed his head and struggled out a grunt. His body crumbled to the ground, revealing Bonnie behind him. Elena imagined she looked like Joan of Arc. Powerful and unyielding. Her hair whipping wildly behind her with the immense power she generated.

Damon made to grab Elena, but Elijah wouldn’t let him. He lifted her up in his arms and her stomach dropped with that nauseating speed. They left Klaus alone and despite everything, Elena wished that they had left her behind to explain. 

* * *

Hours later, after he was thoroughly satisfied that everything was destroyed, Klaus sat on the edge of the overturned couch. He was alone again, at his most dangerous. Hurt and alone.

He clutched Elena’s present in his hand, fingers pressing into the glass cracked it. A poem about making the most of time, of your youth and of love. But she had insisted they were only friends and her words tasted true. What else had his brother given her over the years?

_But so much of her seemed true. And it wasn’t._

He realized, in that moment, something important about Elijah and also himself. They loved the same girl, again. Only this time, Klaus had a legitimate claim.

_So then, was he Paris or King Menelaus? Would he be the one to love her or the one who would try to control her? Weren’t they the same thing?_


	15. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

The bookshelf was completely destroyed. He’d taken a particular pleasure in destroying those first editions that were irreplaceable. A few paintings broken in half. The living space bore the brunt of his untethered emotions. Klaus leaned against the couch, finally calm. He kept flashing to Elena looking so terrified of him and he kept trying to tell himself that she deserved it. He owed her worse. She lied to him.

And Elijah, he thought. Of course Elijah would have been involved with her. To think anything else was foolish. It hurt to think about how long they’d known each other.

_Years, had she said?_

He sneered to himself, imagining how their relationship may have developed with years between them. To think that he’d wanted to keep her from Elijah and he was already involved in her life. Where Petrovas were concerned, he’d always be involved. It was a sick joke from the universe.

He looked back at the poem, frame splintered into a spider’s web of rage. He’d given her such an intimate, knowing present. It seemed pointed, especially to Klaus. A lustful declaration of casting aside coyness and not wasting beauty in favor of carnal joys. 

Had his brother tasted her the same way he had not days ago? Was her time in his bed a betrayal to Elijah or were they both secretly laughing at him? He pushed the feeling of her languidly caressing him, skin on skin, out of his heart. Those moments were ruined, fraying at the edges. If he could light them on fire, he’d gladly watch her burn.

He was spiraling. As always, he spent the rest of the night rendering the answers he craved from the spines, chests and viscera of anyone who chanced across his path. Cracking ribs open as if they were books with which he could educate himself. Painting canvas in differing shades of red, waiting for a revelation. Ripping screams from their throats like a conductor, waiting for divine inspiration.

None of it came.

* * *

_New World, 1001 A.D._

She’s distracted and he takes his chance. It’s the only way he can get close. Spinning her around to face him, he lifts up his mask and swiftly crosses the distance between them. Not giving her time to react. His nervousness translates through his mouth and into the kiss. It’s as unsure as he is and he compensates by pushing into her, clumsily aiming for passion. He feels her hands gentle on his chest and for a moment as she smiles up at him, he is hopeful. If he could have her affections then maybe his life would be worth it. The derision and beatings from his father preventing him at every turn from being the brother he yearns to be. Failing over and over to become the son he fathoms Mikael actually wants.

He watches her walk away, not caring to give him a second glance as she makes her way to his ever revered brother. He’s crushed under the weight of these brotherly expectations. Klaus stands still even as everyone else keeps dancing, immune to his pain as they always were. Mocking him with their celebrations. He feels so childish then. His heart breaks quietly as he watches his brother holding her, kissing her. And she leans in to him, let’s herself meld into the fold of his arms.

He is too confused and lost to feel angry just now. He had hoped and dreamed that Tatia might feel the same way, but like everything else in his life she is not meant for him. His father jeers at him later. Mocking him for thinking that a woman, even one as tainted as she, would want a boy like him. His mother curses her name, blaming her for coming between him and Elijah. His sister empathizes with him. Rebekah was so tender-hearted and caring. It all just made him feel worse, whether or not they meant it too doesn’t matter.

Elijah tried to ignore the situation. He is too dignified, but Klaus couldn’t let him have her and his honor. Their fighting started with barbs until it escalated into sparring. It never felt fair to Klaus. That his father should love Elijah. Their entire family thought him so honorable. It wasn’t enough for him to have the love and respect of their family and the village, but he had to have her as well.

They never speak of it again after she died. But he could never forget.

* * *

_England, 1492_

The years changed Klaus in ways he couldn’t have imagined when he was just a man. Like the walls surrounding his castle, he had built up his own walls around his heart. Elijah remained at his side and he felt a sense of justice prevailed. In life he had felt so overshadowed by his older brother. In death, he finally felt like he had the upper hand. He was now special, different. A more impressive monster.

Elijah introduces Katerina to him at his birthday celebration and he enjoys how she seems so impressed by him. Completely different from how Tatia viewed him. She saw him as a child while this new one regarded him as a lord. He drinks in her admiration without offering any of his own.

She is tickled by his Bulgarian and he quickly steals her from his brother. It is both pragmatic and petty. He revels in how crestfallen Elijah looks anytime he interrupts their time alone. She is so enamored that she doesn’t even question him when he comes to her, blood on his breathe and staining his clothes. He punishes her with his bad behavior and thinks all the while of Tatia. Imagines the release when he finally gets to kill her. Hundreds of years of pent up rage and jealousy waiting to be unleashed. 

His brother tries to come to him, finding a way to spare her life. But he doesn’t want to risk it and more so, he wants to watch Elijah suffer when he drains the life out of Katerina. Time and experience have made him vindictive and trifling.

But she runs away from him, tainting her blood with his disease and destroying his destiny. It conjures up imagines of Tatia running into his brother’s arms the night of Samhain. He blames Elijah so fiercely and their tenuous relationship is broken. Without him around, Klaus is no longer chained by morality and his brother’s obsessive need to clear the path for his redemption. He allows himself every indulgence coated in sticky blood.

* * *

_Palermo, Sicily May 2019_

Klaus catches sight of her lithe figure, dark hair cascading in waves down her back. She looks so frustrated with herself and she taps it out on her laptop. He smirks to himself, imagining Katerina’s shock when he orchestrates their run in. He can already smell the stink of her fear.

He is the one shocked, to find out the Petrova line continued on and this was another occurrence of the doppelgänger. Another chance for him to claim what is his, to prove himself.

Tatia was unimpressed by him and Katerina far too impressed. Elena looked at him like she hadn’t yet decided how to feel about him. She was guarded, which was entirely new. She was more complex than her forbearers.

He is surprised when she brings him to the museum and even more surprised by which pieces she lingers on. Her predecessors hadn’t expressed such deep thoughts to him and Klaus wondered if it was because of how much older this one was or if it was the times she grew up in. He decided that day he would treat this one differently. He would seduce her in a careful, intentional way. He overestimated Tatia’s carefree flirting and underestimated Katerina’s ability to survive. He wouldn’t give Elena the opportunity to surprise him. He would lull her into compliance until the moment he was ready to sacrifice her. All he had to do was wait a month for his witch to get everything in order.

Night after night, he walked under her balcony. Willing her to notice him, to call for him so she’d be the pursuer. Give her a false sense of control. Finally, she did. When she delayed him at the door, he worried she might know his true self. His anger threatened to bubble to the surface, but then she invited him in before it could burst. He found himself to be genuinely intrigued by her life. They seemed so similar in various ways. She was so dedicated to family and yet had a father she hardly knew, controlling her life as soon as he revealed their true connection.

He was startled by how lonely her existence was. Yet she was like the coals of a fire, waiting for someone to come stoke her back to life. It would be such an easy thing accomplish. He realized he wanted to be the one to claim that victory.

When she leaned over and touched him confessing how he’d impacted her that was the first time he truly wanted to kiss her. He resisted, still suspicious of her Petrova charm. He needed to know that when she came to him it was in truth. He wouldn’t be blinded by her fire.

He could have killed the entire city when she failed to appear in any of their haunts the following days. He would bathe in the blood of Sicily to wash away his stupidity. But when she opened the door, looking so frail and weak, he felt even more the idiot.

When he put her to bed and she pulled at him, begging him to stay that was the first time he thought he might love her. It had snuck up on him while he basked in the light of her, pulling him into the shadows.

He fled like a coward before she woke. He couldn’t explain to her why he did.

_“_ _I think I love you, but I can’t because I need to kill you.”_

Yeah, he’d thought, that would go over well. Could he still go through with it?

The weekend at the coast had been one of the better ones of his life. Even taunting that obnoxious, weak child had pleased him.

Pettiness aside, she had opened herself up to him that weekend in so many ways. He’d wondered if this was somehow part of his mother’s spell. Did she intend to make breaking it as difficult on him as possible? Was this his punishment for choosing a woman over his brother? If so, Elena was the most delicious torture he’d ever experienced.

* * *

_Venice, Italy June 2019_

He stumbled out of a hostel, blood dripping off his chin. His teeth, sharp and protruding still, gleam against the deep red around his mouth. He brings the phone up and scowls as he hears it go to voicemail.

“You can’t hide her from me, Elijah. She is mine, truly and in all the ways that matter to both man and monster. I will find her. I will always find her!” He roared into the speaker.

The muscles in his upper lip twitch, disgusted. With her and Elijah but mostly with himself. He thinks back to all her talk of sacrifice that first day clearly taunting him. She was teasing him at the doorway that night. He forced the puzzle pieces into place, splintering the edges. She’d been so careful to show him exactly what he wanted to see from her. And he’d fallen for her.

The lonely girl who yearned for life. The girl who had a complicated relationship with her father, who could get lost in art and in him for hours. The girl who ran away from the bonfire for him and no one else.

The only thing he couldn’t rationalize was her dragging him back to the house away from the club and away from her friends. What had been her purpose in that? She’d been so careful not to cross that line with him until then. Even forcing him to sleep on the couch just the night before. How did that factor into her playing him?

It didn’t make sense. Why would she lure him in the shower then? When she could have avoided the entire situation and flown back to Palermo with the others. It was like she wanted to be there. With him. The thought makes him hungry so he continues to stalk the streets, unabashedly.

* * *

_Palermo, Sicily July 2019_

It takes him a week to bleed the anger out of his system, enough to go back to her flat. Enough to get himself under enough control to think straight. He isn’t sure what he wants to find here, but knows he isn’t ready to find her.

Her door is open enough to reveal the broken handle. He pushes his way in, confused and unafraid. He can tell she isn’t here. She’d taken the most important things with her on their trip to the coast so the fact that books and broken records littered the floor had more to do with emotion than practicality.

She’d lived so minimally that he isn’t sure anything has been taken. The biggest mystery is why Adrian and Marie’s scent is the strongest while hers had already faded.


	16. Gimme Shelter

_Venice, Italy 2019_

She isn’t sure how far they’ve travelled when Elijah finally stops, still carrying her. Damon is next to her, gently setting Bonnie down who straightens out her hair immediately.

“Your mouth, Elena. He hurt you.” Bonnie notices.

Damon moves to bite into his wrist but stops under the glare of the older vampire who gently opens his own wrist for Elena. Their blood mixes in her mouth and the pain fades away as does her wounds. Her blood is still there and she forces it down her throat. She wants to throw up but she isn’t sure what is causing it.

“I have to go back, Elijah. I have to explain,” she whispers, wishing it were just the two of them.

“No, Elena. I can’t let you do that. Look at what he’s already done to you.”

“No, you don’t understand! I owe him an explanation!”

“You don’t owe him anything, Elena. He hurt you and would have done worse. Don’t extend your kindness to him. He doesn’t deserve it.” It’s the first time he’s come close to yelling at her. He’d been so careful with her before this.

“You don’t know! He’s going to be so mad at me. He’s going to think I left him!” She keeps trying to get past Elijah, trying to force her way uselessly out of his hold. He’s too strong and she isn’t willing to hurt him, not even a little.

“Elena, please calm down. You’re safe now.” Bonnie tries to soothe her like she’s some kind of frothing horse. But Bonnie doesn’t understand either. She was safe before this moment.

“If you don’t compel her to shut up, then I will,” Damon threatens as he looks around at the windows above them.

“I can’t,” Elijah explains. “She consumes her vervain.”

“Please, Elijah. Let me go,” she begs him, her last effort to get back to Klaus. But the look he gives her brings her back to him. Pity. She doesn’t want to know what he thinks Klaus did to her, but that look calms her down enough to listen to him.

“Are you sure about that, Suit and Tie?”

Elijah glanced at Damon, annoyed. “Elena, you know that I can’t do that. He’s too angry. I won’t let him hurt you again. You are too important to me.” His hands are on her face, gliding up from her neck under her hair. His thumbs wipe away the frantic tears that had begun falling. She knows how right he is, but she wishes he wasn’t. “Stay with me?” he asks so tenderly that she can’t help but relax into him.

“How did you find us?” He asks, his chin settled on her head as if he needed to trap her against him. He holds her so tightly she begins to wonder if he’ll ever let her go.

Damon scoffs at the question. “We followed her. Obviously.”

* * *

_London, England 2019_

Elijah had been more than happy to set Elena up in one of his old flats, transferring the deed into her name. She had objected at first, but it was too overwhelming with Bonnie and Damon both taking his side. Her protests fell on deaf ears. Once Bonnie was satisfied that the flat was properly spelled and protected, everyone relaxed a little more. They spent a week together, getting Elena settled in and comfortable. Even though they were having fun together, Elena could tell that Bonnie was ready to go home.

“Well, it was fun times Warrior Princess,” Damon enveloped her in a hug. “Bon Bon and I should hit the road...metaphorically speaking. Watch out for yourself okay? Tickets are expensive and Bonnie won’t let me compel for free seats.”

“Thank you, both. For everything.” Elena was appreciative, but she wished she could have stayed in Venice and talked to Klaus. She didn’t know how she could possibly explain everything, but she really wanted to try.

Bonnie was next, holding her tight. “Try not to piss off any indestructible monsters, okay? Stick with Elijah? He seems to really care about you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Bonnie. Tell Caroline I love her too. And miss her.”

“You could tell herself if you came with us. I’d let Damon cheat someone out of their seat for you.”

They all laughed, but Elena felt so hollow.

Her friend left hours ago and Elijah had busied himself with cooking dinner. Elena lay in her bed, scrolling through her phone. She’d kept checking her messages, wondering if Klaus would reach out to her. She hadn’t blocked him and hadn’t mentioned to anyone that they had each other’s numbers. How odd, she had thought once when she had texted him to meet for lunch.

_Just casually having my enemy’s phone number, just the man who wanted to kill me since he found out I existed. Not weird at all._

She chewed her lip a little, thinking.

_How mad would Elijah be with me if I texted his brother? Probably a lot._

“Elena? Dinner is ready.” She set her phone face down, leaving it on silent.

“Elijah, you really didn’t have to do this. And you don’t need to stay to watch over me. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think it is prudent to leave you so quickly after inciting Niklaus’s rage.” She winced, feeling guilty. “Elena, don’t think for a moment that you’ve done wrong by my brother. You only did what you had to in order to survive.”

“I know, I just feel bad for lying to him. He just…seemed so hurt.”

“His pride and nothing else.” He waved his hand as if he were sweeping dirt under a mat.

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to get settled into a comfortable routine with Elijah. They’d spent time together before but no more than a couple nights. She’d wake up and he’d already have coffee ready for her. She’d sip on it and tease him while he read the paper.

“What does an immortal being need with current events? Shouldn’t you be above all that?”

“I enjoy understanding the world around me. It could prove useful.”

“So then it isn’t for your daily horoscope?”

“I don’t need anyone else telling me who I am, Elena.” That struck her. She thought of the night on the beach with Klaus, asking who she was to him. Twice. He’d answered her that second time, but she wondered if he still meant it. Was she still his Helen of Troy? Or was she just a Trojan horse to him now?

After breakfast, she’d leave to go to her home office to work, either pitching more ideas or wrapping up a project right at the deadline. Sometimes, she wrote a letter to Klaus or jotted down something funny she wanted to tell him.

_I walked through a neighborhood today I think you’d love._

_I tried my hand at charcoal today. I’m terrible. You would hate it._

_I found a coffee place I like here. Do you remember how the café owners in Palermo questioned your intentions when you kept coming around?_

She kept those tucked in a drawer, worried about Elijah discovering them. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she was still too anxious to actually try particularly with his brother around. She didn’t want to be a disappointment to her friend.

By lunch, she would come out to the living room to find Elijah. They would pick a new place for take-out or get something that they both liked the last time. It was the most consecutive time they’d ever spent together and Elena felt close to being home. Elijah’s presence day and day out inched the memory of Klaus from her mind. Slowly, her letters became infrequent and she checked her phone less.

At night, they would trade off on picking a movie. She’d cuddle up next to him, like they used to, but there was something different between them now, Klaus. Elena still felt guilty, like she was cheating on him.

_But how can you cheat on someone when the relationship itself was not established? Had Elijah figured out that more had happened between her and his brother? Would he even care if he had? Did she want him to care?_

It was after they’d say goodnight that her mind wandered back to Klaus, in the dark hours she spent alone. Wondering what he was doing. If he was still furious with her or if he missed her like she missed him. She told herself that it was silly. He only missed his opportunity to break the curse. At least that’s what Elijah kept reminding her of. She knew it was senseless, to miss him. It was more than that. She could miss the sun and the ocean. She ached for him, but she resolved to let herself keep those silly feelings to herself. In those nights, with the suffocating silence and no distractions, she allowed herself to cry. She’d let herself be silly alone.

If Elijah ever heard her, he had the decency to not bring it up.

* * *

The night she stopped crying started like every other night. She was chopping up some vegetables for a soup while Elijah watched from the table.

“Do you ever get tired of suits? I swear I’ve never seen you in anything other than a suit,” she teased.

“Would you prefer to see me in something else?” 

“Careful, mister, you are dangerously close to flirting. How unseemly for such a distinguished gentleman as yourself.” He laughed until she stumbled back a bit from the cutting board, clutching her finger. “Oh shit!”

“Elena?” He rushed to her and she offered up her hand to him.

“It’s not that bad, just stings.” She watched as his eyes darkened, veins pulsing under his eyes. It had been a long time since that image scared her, but she didn’t often see Elijah lose control like that. She was fascinated as she watched him grab her finger and then any coherent thought left her mind as dipped his head down to lick her finger first before he started sucking on it. Elena felt like all the air in her lungs was suddenly gone. His lips were so soft. She’d always wondered, always tempted to find out.

He looked back up at her when he was done. “Elena…” He pulled her closer, his hands circling around her waist. She felt like a rabbit frozen to the ground. Her heart thumping erratically. This is something she’d thought about for such a long time, so why was she nervous? Shouldn’t she be leaping into his arms? How had she so expertly left an awkward situation with brothers almost a decade ago only to be involved in a similar scenario now? She was too old for this, she thought.

But all those thoughts were erased as his lips came to meet hers. It was a chaste, thoughtful kiss at first. His hands lightly capturing her face, pulling her closer. An apology for everything that had happened with Klaus in Venice. His lips started to open, tongue probing. His apology turning into a question.

_Do you feel the same?_

Instinctively, she reached out to him, her hands lightly grazing a path up his ribcage before settling on his chest. Even she wasn’t sure if she meant to push him off or pull him closer. It was the only encouragement he needed. Before she realized, he had her up on the counter, his body pressing against hers. It was as if he was making up for the years he had so carefully created a vast space to separate them, closing in on her with such intensity and heat she’d never seen from him before in their years of taught friendship.

He pulled back, suddenly, resting his forehead against her. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He looked up at her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Any excuse to touch her. “I didn’t want to ruin you like I’d ruined them.”

“You couldn’t ruin me, Elijah.”

He beamed at her as he leaned back in, eyes lazily closing.

“I – I should actually tell you something,” she stammered, “Klaus and I. We slept together. I just thought you should know that, considering.”

He slid his hands down to her neck, tilting her chin up to him with his thumbs. “Are you trying to stop me without asking me to stop, Elena?”

“No! I don’t think so at least.”

“So, why bring up Niklaus in this moment?” His hands fell to her thighs, thumbs pressing into her legs.

“Because you should know. I would want to know something like that. I don’t want to lie to you.”

He lowered his face down, resting his forehead on her shoulder. His hands played along her legs up to her hips, holding them as if he could rewind time with enough concentration. “It isn’t a lie if I didn’t ask.”

“Is he the reason you are doing this?” she ventured tentatively.

“You are the reason I want to kiss you, Elena. What is between us has nothing to do with Niklaus. I knew you first.”

“Right, I know that. It’s just, you’ve never done this before. And there were so many times you could have, if you wanted. I did everything but ask.” He looked back up at her, shocked.

“I always wanted this. But you were so young when we first met. It didn’t feel right to me. You still had so much life left to live. I didn’t want to impose on that. And then after so much time had passed, I was worried that you didn’t feel for me as I did for you.”

“Elijah…” She pulled his face closer to hers, her fingers playing on the sharp edge of his jaw. “I’ve always wanted you. It’s embarrassing to me how many times I fantasized about this scenario playing out.”

“You don’t want me now though. He changed your mind.”

“He didn’t and I do want you, but before that’s all I felt was you here in my heart.” Her hand fell from his face over her chest. “My feelings are more complicated now.”

“You love Niklaus,” he accused.

“I don’t know.” Her voice came out like a soft cry on the wind. Their foreheads met and Elena’s eyes began to tear up. “I’m so sorry. If I had known that you had felt this way about me…I don’t know. I would have tried harder Maybe our lives would be different now. But now I’m so confused and this is just adding to that.”

“Don’t apologize for your feelings. They are yours to feel as mine are my own.” He reached out to wipe away at a stray tear. “I will be here for you always. When you do figure out what you want, please tell me. Whatever it may be.” She smiled through her tears and nodded.

“Do you promise?”

“Of course. I would wait an eternity for you to be ready, Elena. I just wish I had done this sooner.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Even as she says it, she isn’t sure how much of it she means. Elijah had driven Klaus effectively from the forefront of her mind, but he hid so cleverly in the dark parts of her heart. He looks at her like he wants to kiss her again and before that look would have undone her. But now, she knows that Klaus wouldn’t have given her such a longing gaze without following it up with exactly what he wanted. She hadn’t known how much she was drawn to that certainty.

She pulls back and looks into Elijah’s brown eyes, so like her own. “Will you stay with me tonight? You’ve never done that. Slept in the same bed with me.”

He obliged and she led him to her bedroom. She clung to him under the covers and he held her as her tears flowed, her breathe came out in shuddering waves. His hand steadied at the back of her head, stroked her hair down her neck to her back until she regains control.

“I wish I didn’t feel so conflicted. I wish it had just been us the last few years,” she confessed to him and she knows she means it. She wishes she could erase the last month and go back to her routines. It was easier to bury her true self and present to the world what she thought it needed before she met Klaus. Now she feels like such a needy thing and she wants to go back to before when she didn’t want so much.

“If we had, if I had given in to you all those years ago and marked you as mine would he have been able to tempt you into his bed?”

“No,” she whispered. “No one could have pulled me from you.”

“I am a fool.”

She smiled at him so compassionately through red eyes and a puffy face. “If you are then I guess so am I.”

“Why can’t we do that now? Be together? I don’t care that you slept with Klaus.” He urges her but it isn’t strong enough. Doesn’t stir her enough. Klaus woke up something in her that doesn’t respond to Elijah anymore.

She shakes her head, rolling on her back to stare at the ceiling. It’s too painful to look at him now. She wishes they could go back to creating an idealistic past together, building it together like armor so she could have faced Klaus with cold indifference. “I can’t just forget about him. I feel like my heart might actually tear in half with the thought of you both. It used to just be you here, Elijah. I don’t know how or when it happened, but Klaus is here too. And I can’t just ignore that. Neither can you. I wouldn’t ask you to.”

“I could try.”

“You wouldn’t be happy with that.”

“I would do anything I could to re-claim the entirety of your heart, Elena. I would win you back no matter how long it took.” And she believed him.

“Stay then. Don’t leave me.” She can’t stand the idea of him leaving her now and a part of her believes if he sticks around long enough and they continue as they were that he might actually accomplish his goal.

“I won’t,” he promises. The next morning though, Elijah was gone. 

* * *

_Paris,_

_I don’t know what to say to you yet. I wasn’t expecting you, not the way you’d been. I was expecting a nightmare and you are somewhere between that and a dream. You’ve complicated my life. I doubt you’ll ever read these, but I need to write them either way. I didn’t mean to leave like that. I’m sorry. I meant to come back to you. That wasn’t a lie._

_Why haven’t you reached out? I know why I haven’t. Is it the same reason?_

_Elijah keeps looking at me like I’ve lost my mine when he doesn’t think I’m watching. Sometimes I think I have too. Did I make everything up? Does the version I saw of you only exist in my head? I have so many questions that I’m afraid to find the answers for._

_I can’t explain it to anyone, but I miss you. Selfishly, I hope I’m not alone in that._

_Your Helen_


	17. Trust Me

Elena was lost after Elijah left. After two months, she’d grown so accustomed to his presence in her life and suddenly the flat felt overwhelmingly empty.

Another month passed by, uneventful. She didn’t have it in her to make friends here. She filled her days with museums and watching people at the park instead, trying to siphon a bit of their happiness to keep herself warm. Her letters to Klaus had slowed down, though she occasionally wrote one and stuffed it in her drawer. There was no more worry about Elijah discovering them, but that drawer had become their home and Elena felt uncomfortable throwing them out.

At the end of September, John called her. He was coming to visit and wondered if he could stay with her. She stammered a yes and quickly created an excuse to hang up the phone. Even though she’d lived with him for years, they’d never actually spent any considerable amount time together, just the two of them. She wondered if this visit was spurred on because of her summer with Klaus. She knew John disapproved of her predilection towards vampire lovers, but there was no way he could have an inkling about what she’d done with Klaus.

* * *

John had taken a taxi from the airport to her flat and Elena met him at the door. She already had a drink in her hand, hoping it would give her the courage or ease to be comfortable around her father. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, her skin felt thinner around him as if his gaze made her transparent. Any time John told her he loved her she could only muster an “I care about you too” back even as pathetic as it felt.

“Elena, you look well.”

“Thanks John. Umm, can I get you a drink?”

“No, thank you.”

John treated her like a porcelain doll under most circumstances, but this time it felt especially magnified. He was obsessively rearranging her cushions and throw blanket or finding reasons to get up to clean a dish or put something away. He was putting something off and she was fine not asking. 

* * *

_Shreveport, Louisiana 2012_

Her back slams hard into the ground and she grunts, her teeth grinding together. Alaric insists on tough love with her and Jeremy, but sometimes she wishes he’d go easy. She can’t deny though the grit he inspires in her.

“A vampire isn’t going to wait for you to get up, Elena. Neither will I,” he says as he stands over her.

She props herself up on her elbows, as if she is about to push herself to her feet. Instead, she twists her hips and connects her shin to his calves. The ground beneath her moves as his weight hits just to her left.

She’s still on the ground, catching her breathe, when his face hovers over hers. “You can’t fight from your back. Get up!” His arms are around her waist as he hoists her up, over his shoulder in a sloppy fireman’s carry. She tightens her knees around either side of his chest and throws her weight back, toppling them both over. It hurts, but she’s prepared for it where Alaric wasn’t. He stumbles on all fours, over her. Her legs are up and around his head before he realizes that she has a foot hooked under the opposite calf. She squeezes as hard as she can, putting pressure on his throat before she feels his hand on her thigh, lightly tapping.

His face is flushed as he stands up. “Good job, Elena. I’m actually impressed.”

Jeremy is nodding at her from under the shade of the only tree in the backyard. It’s a hot day and they’ve been sparring for hours already. She should be miserable, but Alaric’s praise has lifted her spirits.

She doesn’t have much time to revel in her pride before the moment is broken by yelling.

“What do you think you are doing with my daughter?” John is storming out onto the porch, followed quickly by Jenna.

“She has to learn to take care of herself, John. It’s not fair to work with Jeremy and not her.”

“She’s my responsibility. I will take care of her. She’s my kid, not yours!”

“Well, then by all means. Oh wait. How exactly will you do that? Just keep her holed up inside the house hoping nothing bad happens?” This long-running argument has already annoyed Alaric.

“You don’t know what it means to be a father. You’re just some hanger on trying to impress a couple of kids. It’s pathetic, Ric. It really is.”

“Hey!” Jenna shouts. “Don’t talk to him like that. We all agreed that Elena was ready for this. Besides that, she can make her own decisions now, John.”

Jeremy comes up beside her and lays a hand on her shoulder. The shouting escalates even as the three adults storm into the house one after the other. “It really was impressive, Elena. You should be proud,” he whispers.

* * *

_London, England 2019_

She switched her morning coffee to join him for tea, hoping that it would seem like an olive branch albeit a fragile one. She wished she could calm him down, but John was like a cat that had wandered into her house. She wasn’t sure how it got in there and she was sure that it would rather be outside, but here it was just existing in her space.

“Did I ever tell you about the night you were born?” he said out of the blue one night. It startled her, but she gently shook her head no.

“Your mother had been so scared the entire time she was pregnant. We were just so young. I loved her so much. Too much I guess.” He kind of chuckled, as if laughing would make it less true.

“Is there such a thing? Loving someone too much?”

“No, you’re right. But I do think sometimes you have to love yourself more.” That hung in the air between them.

He continued. “Anyway, she showed up at our house, late at night. She knew Grayson was a doctor and she was too nervous to remember any of the planning we’d all done. She seemed so scared. I should have known she’d already started slipping away.”

Elena felt the urge to reach out to him, try to comfort him but she’d have to scale that wall between them that they’d built so long ago.

“So, I called my brother and him and Miranda met us at the house. The ride to the hospital was the most anxious I’d ever felt. I still didn’t know what Isobel wanted to do. If she gave you up, then any connection we had would be severed. If she kept you, I thought maybe we still had a chance to be a family.”

“You were the one that wanted to keep me?” _That was new._

“I did,” he struggled for the words, “But I also wanted what was best for you too. I was so young and dumb. I didn’t know what to do and it was easier to give Isobel the full weight of the decision. Looking back now, I’m sure that scared her even more. I was trying to back her but I forced all the heavy lifting onto her. What a flimsy excuse for support.”

“You both did the best you could.”

“You are too kind, Elena.” She smiled, feeling awkward but also a longing to hug him. She wondered if she would have an ocean of regret when she got older the same way John seemed to now.

“When she decided to let Grayson and Miranda adopt you, I had so many feelings. It was like the best of both worlds and the worst at the same time. I knew that they would love you so much and give you an amazing home. But Isobel left as soon as she could and I had no one to really talk to about it all. I got to see you grow up and I felt so…privileged to be able to do so. But you started talking and calling my brother Dad and I got so jealous when that would happen. I was your dad, but you’d never know that. I tried so hard to be a good uncle to you, but I couldn’t. I’m just not a good enough man for that. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t be good enough for you.”

This was the first time seeing John so vulnerable and she didn’t know what to do. He hunched over, sobbing into his hands. Slowly, as if she was afraid she would break him, she reached out and stroked his back. He didn’t say anything else after that and she didn’t probe. She just held him, hoping that maybe she could absorb some of his pain.

* * *

_Odessa, Texas 2013_

She had spent days in bed after Stefan left, battling with the emotions toiling inside. She’s proud of him for taking care of Damon and jealous that she never feels like the most important person to him. It makes her love him more fiercely even as she starts to like _them_ less. Jenna brings her meals and cleans up for her when she’s done. Sometimes, Jeremy lay in bed with her, holding her. He knows this kind of sadness too well, has held it inside for years. Ric runs interference for her with John and he does a good job, but Elena stumbles upon her father in the kitchen at midnight on her way to get a snack.

“Oh, sorry Elena. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I just got hungry.”

“That’ll happen when you don’t eat.”

She nods and pulls out the bread. She tries to make her sandwich quickly before he can say anything else.

“I’m sorry about Stefan. Really. He seems like one of the better ones for what it’s worth. But you know, maybe this is for the best? A chance to focus on someone you have more in common with?”

“We haven’t broken up, John.”

“Oh, I figured with the crying…”

“I’m upset, but I still love him. I can be sad and in love.”

“I know, Elena. I’m not saying that you don’t love him.”

“What are you saying then?” It feels good to redirect what she’s feeling into angry lancing heat at John.

“Just that I think you’re better off. You love him now, but you are so young. Things change.”

“How can I possibly be better off without Stefan? I don’t just throw people away like they don’t mean anything. I care, John.”

“I do too, Elena.”

“Well you’ve done a great job of pretending you don’t.”

* * *

_London, England 2019_

After a while, Elena begins to wonder when John was planning to leave, but she never mentions anything. She is content to wait for the spontaneous conversations he sparks with her. Telling her about her parents when they were younger or forgotten memories of being a kid with Jeremy. She soaks it into her skin like sunscreen. She’s handing him a green tea when he asks to talk to her about something important. She braces herself, feeling stupid for believing he just came for a simple visit.

“Elena, I’ve put a lot of thought behind this and I think it’s time for you to go home.”

“Home?”

“Mystic Falls.”

“John, you know that is impossible.”

“I don’t think it is, kiddo. I have an idea and I’ve talked to Bonnie abou-”

“Bonnie didn’t mention anything when she was here.” Her defenses are up at the idea of her friends and John conspiring behind her back.

“Well, I asked her to let me talk to you about it.” Elena eyed him, suspiciously.

“I was already running from the Travelers. And Klaus. I’ve made him too angry. If I go back home, he will find me.” She started picking at the corner of a nail, sawing away at the edge.

“Not if we give him what he wants.”

“Your idea to let me go home is to…die?”

“In a sense. Nothing permanent. Spells and curses are very technical. A death is a death, but what happens after-”

“I’m not becoming a vampire, John!” She feels betrayed. Of all the things he has or hasn’t done for her, she expected him to at least remain constant in this.

“And I don’t want you to!” He was getting heated. “Let me finish Elena. Bonnie has a spell that would link our souls, briefly. Think of it like, I’d give your soul a physical space to retreat to when you die. And then when it was safe, your soul would return to your body. You’d be alive and human.”

“So, why didn’t we do that before?”

“I don’t know that Bonnie was strong enough then and I-I…” She interrupts him, solving the riddle before he can confess.

“You? Wait, what would happen to you? Afterwards, John, what happens to you?”

“I would die, Elena.”

“You can’t. I can’t let you do that. I can just keep hiding. It’s fine.” Elena hadn’t realized that she was getting worked up, her eyes threatening to spill the dam of tears she was keeping in.

“Elena,” he reached out to her, holding her hand in his, “If I do this, if we do this. If you are willing, then Klaus gets what he wants and will stop looking for you. If he agrees and makes a spectacle of it then the Travelers will think you dead. They’ll also stop and wait around for the next occurrence of the doppelgänger. Why look for something when you know it is gone? You’ll be safe. Finally. ”

“This isn’t fair to you. None of this is fair!” Her lip was quivering.

“It is the fairest thing I’ve ever come up with though. Elena, I’m going to die anyway. I haven’t been feeling well for a long time. A few months ago-”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been exhausted and sick, so I went to the doctor and they found cancer. Colon. Stage four.” Each word hit her like a dart. Cancer - _Thump_. Stage Four - _Thump_. Dying - _Thump_.

“There is no point really in trying anything for me. I’m basically just waiting around until I get sick enough for palliative care. I was going to tell you, but then I got to thinking about my life and what it has amounted to. I’ve never done right by you.”

“That’s not true!” If she said it forcefully enough, it could become true.

“Elena. That is generous of you, but it is true. I protected you once, but a father should keep his child safe and happy. You may be safe, but I don’t think you are happy. You are cut off from everyone that loves you. You are so alone. Listening to Jenna and Jeremy talk about how you’re living, it hurts to know how I’ve failed you. That is my fault.”

He moved to kneel in front of her, ignoring her waving him off, he takes a hold of her hands.

“I haven’t known how to be a good father to you, but I can now. I can do this for you. I want to do this for you, Elena. Please. Let me. Let me take care of you. Don’t let me waste away without a purpose.”

“You could get better,” she offered, weakly.

“I won’t.”

“Dying isn’t a purpose.”

“No, it isn’t. But you are. You are my purpose and I’m so sorry that I haven’t been able to show you that every day of your life.”

He reached out and pulled her to him. He held her in his arms and he wished he had the courage to reach out to her when she was a child. She sobbed into his shoulder and he patted her “Let me show you now. I love you so much, Elena. More than I could ever say. I would do anything for you.”

* * *

_Bend, Oregon, 2015_

Jeremy has been gone for a month, forging his own path. A lone Gilbert against the world. Before that, Alaric and Jenna had decided to move out on their own. Still in the same neighborhood fortunately, but the tensions between Ric and John had escalated and Jenna agreed it was for the best. It hadn’t really occurred to anyone to invite Elena and she hadn’t thought to ask.

The time she spent alone in the house with John made her feel like a ghost, skirting just on the outside of his presence. Still, she had an obligation to him. She couldn’t be the last one to leave him even if he kept pushing people away. The blow of her final break up with Stefan shred her sense of loyalty until one day she realized that she could leave, if she wanted.

And she did.

Everything she owned could fit comfortably in just two duffle bags, she was surprised to learn. She was even more surprised when she heard a throat clearing at her door to find John standing there. It had been so long since either of them had directly acknowledged the other.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I think it’s time.”

“I agree. You are capable and it’s time for you to make a life for yourself.”

“Thanks…”

“I have something for you.” He held onto a large, faded red bound book. “It’s Isobel’s. Pictures from high school. Her childhood. There might actually be some of me in there.” She knows he means the album, but she wonders if the same applies to her.

They exchange fast, perfunctory hugs before she leaves and she never looks back to see that he is still standing on the front lawn watching her go.

* * *

_London_ , _England 2019_

Hours later, Elena is still awake. So much has happened in the last few months and she’s never wanted to give up as much as she does now. She’s scared to lose John, her view of him shifted so greatly in the last couple of weeks. Even more than that, she is scared to go home. Once she does, she knows she will have to confront how much she’s outgrown Mystic Falls. How much she doesn’t fit in as seamlessly with her friends. She’s afraid of feeling like an outsider with her inner circle. Afraid she will discover it isn’t her home anymore. Afraid to confront that running was easier and maybe that’s why she’d done it for so long.

She looks down at her screen, illuminating her face in a ghostly sick blue. She hovers over his name again for the first time in a long time. Wonders what he’d make of all this.

* * *

_Dear Paris,_

_I’ve either done a great job of running or you don’t care to find me. There are endless places to hide here, but I’m out in the open, waiting. Where are you?_

_Find me,_

_Helen_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed these flashback scenes, especially Elena in some action with Ric.


	18. Paint It Black

John leaves a few days after he shatters her world in his attempt to make it better. It’s what he’s always done.

She isn’t okay with anyone dying for her, even him. He’s utterly convinced that this is the best plan. She can’t refute his logic, but it doesn’t seem right that he should open himself up to her finally just as he has no more time left to commit to the decision. Maybe that was why? It was easier for him knowing he wouldn’t have to be around to keep it up.

After he leaves, Elena calls Bonnie. She can’t decide yet if she’ll yell or cry.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice is guarded, wary of lies even by omission.

“He asked me to keep it a secret, ‘Lena. He said he wanted to tell you. I had to respect that at least.” Bonnie’s voice was soft, calming.

“How confident are you in this plan? Do you really think it can be pulled off?”

“Elena it will work! I’ve been doing so much research.”

“Are you certain? There is no chance that something could go wrong?”

“Well, there is always a chance. Nothing in life is ever absolutely certain. But I do think this works within the laws of nature.”

“So you’re telling me that there is a chance that John could die for nothing?”

“Elena,” she said gently, “He’s going to die anyway. It doesn’t really change anything. He just wants to be the one to decide when and how.”

“I might die.” While she’s never been afraid of death, she’s never thought about embracing it so cavalierly.

“You will die, but I’ll bring you back. Then you can finally come home.”

“But I could stay dead. There is a chance of that?”

“No, absolutely not. I won’t let that happen.” She seems so determined to Elena, as if she could will anything to happen with her words alone. Maybe it is this confidence that sways Elena or she’s too tired to keep arguing. Either way, she ends up agreeing.

After everything, Elena isn’t surprised when she finds Jeremy on the other side of her door. Everyone seems so worried about her lately. Someone calls her every day. At first, she enjoys the conversations but eventually they end up distracting her from her writing. It isn’t a shock when they send a babysitter in disguise to watch over her.

He looks so different now than he did when they were kids. His shoulders are broad and his arms are so muscled. This version of Jeremy would have bullied the shy, art kid version of Jeremy from high school. She wonders if he sees that too.

* * *

_Durham, North Carolina 2009_

The motel sheets smell stale and they itch her skin in a way that conjures up an unsettling question, pushed to the back of her head. She’s amazed at how quickly a week passes by and despite the odds she’s just about to fall asleep when John starts snoring again.

She turns to her other side, away from the noise and comes face to face with her brother, his eyes open too. They haven’t slept in the same bed since a family vacation years ago, before death had found her family. It’s just the three of them in the room. The last three Gilberts.

“Did I wake you up?” she asks.

“No, too hard to sleep with the noise.”

“Fair enough. Are you okay Jer?” She’ll never stop worrying about.

“Fine, Elena.”

“I mean, are you going to be okay?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters, Jeremy. We’re leaving. For who knows how long and-”

“We aren’t going back, Elena.” His tone is decisive and it’s in this way that he seems older than her. He stopped believing in happy endings before her.

“Eventually, we might.”

“No, Elena. We aren’t going back. It’s impossible. You don’t just go on the run for a couple years. This is our life now.”

“Do you blame me?”

“A little,” he says and he isn’t angry, but he is honest.

“I’m sorry. If I could change it…”

“You can’t, Elena. And it’s okay. I blame you, just a little. But also if it means protecting you then I’ll do it over and over again.”

“Really?”

“You’re still my big sister. Annoying. Nosy. I love you.”

She smiles and snorts out a half-laugh. “Thanks. I love you too.”

* * *

_London, England 2019_

“Did John send you to keep an eye on me?”

“Yes and no. He’s worried about you. We all are.”

“And the no?”

He looks sheepish. “My tattoo is almost complete, I think. And I figured that London was a great place to be to complete it. Nothing like city life to bring out the monsters.”

“I still can’t see it, Jer. When is that supposed to change?”

“I’m not really sure. Maybe when it is done?”

“What does it look like?” She asks, looking intently at his skin like if she looks hard enough, she could see an outline.

“Kinda badass to be honest.” He laughs and she punches him lightly on the shoulder.

“Well come in. I doubt I could stop you even if I tried.”

They spend weeks together and it makes Elena wonder why she left their family alone and not with Jeremy all those years ago. She shows him all the places that have become hers. The museums that remind her of Klaus slowly become Jeremy’s too. They make a good team.

* * *

_Palermo, Sicily 2019_

It’s her first night in the new city and, as was their tradition, Jeremy had helped her move in. He’s just finishing up his beer as she puts the rest of her clothes in the closet. She’s zipping up her boots when he leans past the doorframe.

“You ready?”

They walk the streets of her new home together. Getting lost and finding their way back until she’s familiar enough with her new surroundings. It’s a habit they picked up from Alaric and Jeremy is always there for her each time she moves like an unspoken promise.

His face is usually set in a rigid line until he sees one, a vampire. Then he lights up like he used to at Christmas.

They fight together with natural ease. They are each other’s right hand. Leading and following, switching so frequently that neither could say who was filling which role.

Elena knows that she’ll never be as strong as Jeremy. It’s something that used to frustrate her, not being able to push past her problems on physical prowess alone. But she works with a hidden strength. Ingenuity.

* * *

_London, England 2019_

“Do you ever wonder if any of them are like Stefan or Damon?” she asks him one night.

“Not really. The only reason I haven’t killed them is how mad I know you’d be with me.”

“Jer! What about Caroline?”

“Caroline is different. I knew her before she became…what she is.” She notices how he can’t bring himself to say the word.

“Do you really hate them so much?”

“Not like I used to,” he shrugged. “Ric has helped me with the whole, obsessively hating vampires attitude that triggered after I killed the first one. It felt so personal at the beginning. Now, it’s like setting a trap for a rat or something. You just kill them without thinking too much about what you are doing.”

“So, by that analogy Caroline is what…a hamster?”

“Sure, I guess. I know how you feel about them and that makes them important. I would never do anything to hurt someone you loved.”

“Do you hate that I do feel things for them? That I love so many of them?”

“At first, I think I did. I didn’t really understand it. But I could see how much Stefan loved you. You can’t be a complete monster if you are still capable of love.”

No, she thought, you can’t. Someone who loved still had good left in them. And above all else, Elena was a believer in redemption. How could she not be when Damon was such a perfect result of those beliefs?

* * *

“Jeremy,” Elena calls him from the kitchen. She heard the door shut and the fall of heavy footsteps. She turned around to see him, covered in blood, impossibly still standing. “Jeremy!”

They stumble into the bathroom together, Elena trying to keep him lifted up on her shoulders and struggling. She eases him into the bathtub and then runs the showerhead, watching the water run off his body red. She leaves and comes back quickly with scissors, cutting up his shirt so she can get a better look at him. She pushes here and there, assessing how deep each wound is.

“You should have been a doctor, ‘Lena.” He laughs. “Like Dad.”

“What happened, Jeremy?”

“It’s not always easy, Elena. Sometimes you get hurt. It’s not exactly the safest job in the world.”

“It’s not exactly a job either. It’s not like you have to do this with your life. You could get settled somewhere. Go back home if you wanted.”

“No, I have to finish this.” The way he said it, with finality, let Elena know there was no point in talking about this with him.

Thankfully most of his cuts were superficial. There was a deep gash on his side that he stitched up himself. Elena balked, shocked that Jeremy could do something like that to himself with such ease. She is horrified at the knowledge that he must have done this before, more than just once. Later, she asks him if he ever does think about going home.

“I did, at first. But now? I’m not sure there is anything there for me. I’d consider going to Oregon to be with Ric and Jenna. After I’ve done what I need to do,” he adds when he sees the hope in her eyes. “But when I think about Mystic Falls, I just think about losing everyone. Mom, Dad, Vicky? Besides, it isn’t really like there is anyone there for me. Everyone moved on without us. I didn’t exactly fit in before and now, there just isn’t room for me.” He notices Elena’s mouth twitch.

“That could change, if we went back,” she counters.

“Yeah maybe. Or maybe they are better off without us.” He won’t be kind for the sake of it. That isn’t their relationship. 

“Did John tell you about his plan?”

“Yeah…” 

“What do you think then?”

Jeremy shrugged, frustratingly to Elena. “I think it’s his choice to do what he wants to do. I think it would be great to make it so you don’t have to hide so much. I think you deserve to settle down somewhere. Actually make friends for once.”

“But you don’t think it is worth it to go home?”

“I just think that sometimes you leave a place and you aren’t meant to go back. I think it would hurt you more to see how everyone went on living without us. I worry that you might idealize it, going home. That you will go back and everything would pick up right where you left it. I think it would make you sad, trying to fit back in again.”

“So, then what do you think I should do?”

“Find someone new. Love them. Have kids. Make some new friends. You have the ability to start over and call a new place home. You don’t have to try to return to the past to be happy again.”

“What about the Gilberts? They were a founding family. Don’t we have a duty or something?” She’s grasping straws now. Elena has never cared much about the town council or her place in Mystic Falls as a founder.

“Fuck the founding families.” They laughed together. Elena allowed herself to imagine a world in which she wasn’t Elena Gilbert, town daughter. She’d been trying on different masks with each new city. Maybe it was time she found a face that fit.

* * *

Later, after Jeremy has gone to sleep, Elena picks up a piece of paper and starts writing a letter. She hasn’t written him in such a long time. It was the beginning of November now and Elena felt so estranged from the summer sun she’d basked in next to Klaus. She was warm then, with him she felt alive. London was cold and rainy, matching how she felt most days. It’s what she deserved. Here, her blood slowed to a crawl like she was hibernating again.

She sends a quick text to Elijah. ‘Hey, I have a plan. You’re going to hate it.’ It’s the first time she’s reached out to him since he left. She’d been too angry at first and that had slipped into a complacency. She knew how it would seem to him that Klaus was the reason she was reaching out now, but she didn’t care. 

Her phone rings and a goofy picture she took of them pops up. It’s the one from the river tour she’d begged him to go on. She’d wanted to do something normal with him, but mostly had wanted to see him out of a suit and tie. She’d pulled her beanie on his head and had begged for a picture. Like in all things to do with her, he’d obliged.

“I hate most of your plans, Elena.” She wonders how he can just answer the phone like nothing had happened between them.

“You know, most people tend to answer with some sort of greeting.” As angry as she was at him for leaving, it is easier than she thought to slide right back into their cadence. She should have called sooner.

* * *

_Paris,_

_If I ever sent these, you’d probably be overwhelmed and annoyed with how much I’ve written. You’d say that I was wasting my time. That I should do something about how I feel instead of putting it to paper. This helps me though, to understand myself better._

_It seems so weird, how long it has been. I figured you would have found me sooner than this. I don’t know if that is a criticism or just a wish. You have so many tools at your disposal. So many resources. I think you must have had the ability to find me, so maybe you just don’t want to?_

_Do you hate me? Do you feel betrayed? Do you ever think about that day in Amalfi, when we were alone? I wish we had more time. I wish I could have slowed down those moments with you. I had no idea how complicated everything could get._

_I know you trusted me, or the version of me that I showed you. I wish I could show you all the parts of me. Would you still like that girl?_

_I think I’m going to have to find you soon, or let you find me at least. I’m afraid of you. What you will say. What you could do. I’m afraid of how you will look at me when you are no longer enamored with me. I like who I am in your eyes. I don’t want to see her changed._

_Helen_


	19. Sympathy for the Devil

_Glasgow, Scotland 2019_

“Good evening, brother.” Klaus’s mouth stretched back, revealing his thick fangs coated in blood. He’d come back after days away just to find his older brother rifling through his papers, carelessly strewn about the table. Each one evidence of the many places he’d travelled to find her, unsuccessfully. They mocked him with his failure. “How long have you been here?”

“Not long, Niklaus. You seem well.” Elijah walked around the table, nothing separating him and his brother except love for the same woman.

“As a matter of fact, I’m rather unwell. You see, I had a doppelgänger right in the palm of my hand until you interfered, yet again. Are you just so committed to coming in between me and my destiny?”

“I was only protecting Elena. If your so called destiny involves her dying, then yes I’ll always be interfering.” Elijah crossed his arms, defiant.

“Don’t speak her name to me!” He raised his arms, jutting a finger out to emphasize his command.

“Are you so affected by just the mere mention of her name?”

“Only in that it conjures up her deceit.”

“So, then you have no feelings for her and were just using her. I was worried that you’d grown to care for her. Told her such ideations were impractical.”

Klaus rushed to stand in front of his brother, his hands grasping the lapels of his suit. “I did no such thing. She’s the one who lied to me. Used me. Ran to you the first chance she got. Just days after she left me, promising to return to Palermo, she was in your arms. Was the plan to run that night? How long had you two been conspiring against me?”

“Normally, Niklaus, there is someone on the other end causing a person to run. In my experience, that someone is typically you. If she did run to me, then it was you who caused it to happen.” His hands covered his brother’s, yanking them off his suit.

“So what, are you here to gloat? You have her safe somewhere I couldn’t possibly find? How did you do it? None of my witches have come close to locating her. Are you shacked up in some little love nest? Tell me, have you been enjoying the latest Petrova?” His sneering tone added to the tension.

“She is safe.” Elijah’s ever composed face sat in stark comparison to Klaus’s own contorted features.

Klaus’s interest was caught. “Merely safe? Not satisfied? Satiated? All this time and all that it took to get a Petrova’s attention off of you was for her to experience me first.” Elijah’s jaw tightened. "Oh come now brother. Don’t tell me you love her. You can’t possibly love them all. You really are infinitely more superficial than you pretend. It’s boring how predictable you are.”

“Elena is her own person. We have a bond. I care deeply for her, as her own person. She may look like them, but she is not them.”

“Pathetic.” Klaus spat the words out as poison.

“Not a pathetic as a man refusing to see that he is in love with a woman. At least I could admit my feelings to her.”

“When you see such a man-”

“I see such a man in front of me, Niklaus. Otherwise why hold off on sacrificing Elena? Surely preparations don’t actually take longer than a month. You had found her and yet why not steal her away? Keep her under lock and key. Unless you’ve grown benevolent? No, I don’t believe it. You once told me that love is a vampire’s greatest weakness. Do you still believe in such a thing? Is that why you refute the truth so stubbornly?”

Klaus paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. His shoulders tense underneath his shirt.

“That couldn’t possibly be the case,” Elijah continued. “My brother growing a heart. Letting any kind of perceived weakness in. Caring for someone more than himself. Impossible.”

“She’s not in love with you?” Klaus looked up at him, unsure of himself. That was always the problem wasn’t it though, Elijah thought to himself. Klaus’s insecurity led to so much bloodshed. He rarely rose above his worst impulses.

“No, I don’t believe she is. She yearns for you, imprudently despite everything I’ve shared with her. I found letters she’d written to you, hidden away in her nightstand.”

He hadn’t, but Elena had told him of how she wrote to Klaus when she texted him earlier. It had pained him, to know that as he ached for her attention she was still so wrapped up in Niklaus. His heart broke, but her plan benefited him as well and if Elijah could also help her stop running he would.

“Noble Elijah pilfering through a woman’s personal effects.” Klaus was leaned against the side of the fireplace, jeering at him. His arms crossed though, defensively.

“I’m not proud, but I had to know. I had to know why she’d refused me. Perhaps I waited too long to come to her.” His voice held an avalanche of regret, threatening to spill out over the precipice.

“A Petrova flat out refused my brother? How interesting.”

“You can play games Niklaus or you can find her. The choice is yours.”

“You wouldn’t simply tell me where she is. That is unlike you. How could you play her hero and hand her over to the wolf?”

“I can’t be her hero, Niklaus. I can’t be her anything. Not when she is so clearly in love with you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Elijah shrugged noncommittedly. “Believe me or not, the truth doesn’t care. Do you think I’m overjoyed to tell you this? That this makes me happy? You’ve dug a hole in her heart and she refuses to fill it over. If I could erase you from her memory, I would. But she would hate me for it if she ever found out. Maybe that is my weakness.”

“Lying is beneath you, brother.”

“Were that a lie, I wouldn’t be here with you now. I’d have never left her side if she could give me her heart wholly. She is unable to do so anymore, it seems.”

“I’m surprised you are here, revealing so much to the lesser Mikaelson brother.”

“Niklaus, you’ve never been lesser. Only you believe that still.” 

“Ah, you’re forgetting father.”

“None of us that matter have ever thought less of you.”

His wild eyes assessed his brother, a moment of vulnerability casting a spell between them that neither was keen to break.

Finally, Klaus spoke. “I would like to go to her. My witches…were unable to find her. Trying to find her like this, manually, is taking too long. I can’t figure out where you may have concealed her.”

“And I will help you with that, but I need some assurances. Would you swear that you won’t hurt her?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Elijah.”

“Given your track record, I don’t believe I am. Swear it to me.”

His anger bubbled back to the surface. “Tell me where she is Elijah! Or I swear I’ll stake you and drop you into the depths of the ocean.”

Elijah rushed his brother then, fist connecting to jaw cracking bone. They scuffled with each other, breaking doors and opening holes in the wall.

“Is this the side of you she loves? Does she even know the full extent of what you are? Have you hidden the very worst parts of yourself away from her? What will she think of you when she realizes this?” Elijah was panting with the effort.

“Tell me!” Klaus roared through gritted teeth. Elijah had a forearm locked over his brother’s neck, locked in with his other arm. He held on tight even as the younger man struggled.

“I’m willing to negotiate with you.”

“Of course. Obviously, you are here for your own gain. This has nothing to do with me.” Klaus’s feet slipped on some broken glass as he tried to turn in Elijah’s hold.

“I’ll tell you where she is in exchange for our family.”

Klaus’s lip curled into a sneer. “Maybe I don’t value her as much as you think I do.”

“Fine, then she will remain forever out of your reach.” Elijah released him and he fell backward slightly with the sudden absence. Elijah started walking away from him.

“Wait!”

He turned around, his smile wounding Klaus.

* * *

Earlier that day, Elijah looked down at his phone. A message from Elena prompted him to call her right away.

“Elena, what exactly is it that I’m bound to hate?” She caught him up on Bonnie and John’s plan. The boundless plans of mortals were entertaining even if so many of them failed.

“Well, you are right. I don’t like the idea of handing you right back to Niklaus.”

“But don’t you understand, everyone can get what they want, Elijah.”

“Elena that is very generous of you, but I’m not sure Niklaus deserves-“

“It isn’t just what he wants. I can stop running. I’ll be “dead” and no one will come looking for me. Klaus gets to be a hybrid. And you can get what you want too.”

“In what way would I get what I want, Elena?” He asked, knowing that the only thing he wanted was her safe in his arms.

“You can use me to negotiate with him. You could get your family back, Elijah. If you still want that.”

Elijah hesitated. She had remembered what he wanted more than anything in the world, to be reunited with his siblings again. It did seem like a trade Klaus would be willing to make. “Tell me, sweet Elena, what would you have me do?”

“You need to tell him where to find me, but don’t tell him where I live. He’ll be suspicious if you tell him details. And I think he’ll like the idea of stalking me through the city.”

That she seemed to already know his brother so well was a pricking discomfort in his chest. “And what makes you think he wouldn’t find you just to rip your heart out? Or worse?”

“I wrote him letters when we first got to London. Dozens of them. Tell him you found them, but don’t say what is in them. I think he’ll be curious enough about them. It might give me enough time to talk him.” 

He wanted to hang up, thinking about her longing for his brother at night while they spent days together. He hadn’t realized just how much Klaus had been on her mind. Thought that he’d been rescuing her that day in Venice.

“You’ve a crafty heart. And if your plan doesn’t work? If he kills you before you have a chance to convince him of your plan?”

“I’m not afraid of him, Elijah.” 

“You should be.” She was always so ready to run or die for everyone else. He wondered when she would start living for herself.

* * *

Klaus sat in the partially destroyed living space, alone and drinking long after Elijah left. The embers glowed in the fireplace, dimly illuminating enough for Klaus to see the lines he was tracing on the parchment. He only had a month of moments and memories to go off of and even with the two iterations before her, he wasn’t sure he captured her the way he desired. He drew her the way he remembered; sitting up in bed, the sheets wrapped around her waist and those dark waves cascading down her back. The eyes weren’t right though. The way she looked to him, the way she looked at him, was what set her apart from the others.

He’d given Elijah the location of the coffins in exchange for hers. He’d considered daggering him, but his confession of her feelings disarmed him completely. He’d spent so many months wondering about her, pride stopping him from reaching out. That pride turned to spite as he waited for her to contact him.

_Why should he be the one to bend when he’d done nothing wrong?_

London, he thought. It was as if she was hiding in plain sight and he cursed himself for not going there first. So many thoughts were running through his head. He wanted to know what were in the letters. Had pressed Elijah for information but he was refused.

He’d have to worry about Elijah and the others later. He’d be cross when he discovered there was a coffin he wouldn’t be able to open. The image of his older brother’s frustration made Klaus smile.

 _Elijah had claimed she loved me._ Klaus mulled over the thought. _What was he supposed to do with that information? What was he supposed to say to her? Would he even be able to trust anything she said to him?_

* * *

_Paris,_

_It’s been months. I keep looking at my phone hoping to see your name and then I realize that I could as easily reach out to you._

_You obviously know that I haven’t. At first, I didn’t want to be a disappointment to anyone. Bonnie, Damon, Elijah. I know that isn’t a comfort for you. But then after so much time went by and you still weren’t here, it got harder to imagine just calling you. Each day that passed it became that much easier to push my feelings down._

_I’m frozen with indecision. I miss you terribly, but I managed to play with fire without getting burnt once. Can I risk it again? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that I’ll never forget you._

_Don’t forget me,_

_Helen_


	20. Bleeding Heart

_London, England 2019_

Elena was enjoying the early snow in November. It was far superior, in her opinion, to the rainy days from when she first arrived. The snow made the city seem quiet and peaceful. In so many ways, she felt like the weather had been reflecting her moods. The sun had warmed her heart the way she’d warmed to Klaus. Leaving him had torn her in half. The rain let her sit comfortably in her melancholy even with her friends and family doing their best to bring her back to the sun. Now, the snow settled in her heart, giving her the cold determination she needed to see him again.

Jeremy was off in Inverness, doing some research with some guy he’d met, Galen. She hadn’t asked too many questions, but she was glad he’d found a friend. She was also excited to have the flat to herself again for a bit. She was fond of her brother’s company, but after the summer everyone seemed reluctant to leave her alone. After so many solitary years, it was starting to grate on her nerves. Each “are you fine?” was a needle stabbing at her skin.

The air was crisp and the falling snow tickled her face. She wrapped her scarf closer and walked until she found herself at the Somerset House. It was one of those places that, if she tried hard enough she could imagine what it would have been like back when it was built. There was the additional bonus of the art and people watching.

Elena could be strictly practical when she needed to be which was nearly always, but her romantic heart still beat strongly beneath her chest even after she buried it. The older people, huddled together like conspirators made her covet a future she was unsure was even possible. Her favorites were the young people, pulling together like magnets. How they flirted and laughed with one another. They came without complications or the notion of all the things Elena didn’t have. No matter who, she loved watching people get lost in each other.

* * *

Klaus hid himself strategically between the columns under the archways, close enough to keep an eye on her and far enough to mingle into the crowds. He thought about the summer, following her and orchestrating their first meeting and so many after that. It felt like years, even to him. The time with her carried a different quality than the time he’d spent without her.

He watched her, watching other people and he smiled a little. They were so alike. Two lonely people carrying lifetimes of baggage with them everywhere they went looking for someone to call home. He wondered if he was just imagining their similarities, willing her to be his perfect fit. Stubbornly forcing his own destiny with the doppelgänger, with Elena.

_Could Elijah have been telling him the truth? Or had he traded his family for a lie?_

* * *

Elena started making her way across the Thames, confident he’d follow her. She bought a coffee on the way to the nearby Warf and was using it to warm her gloved fingers. She wished he would walk alongside her, share a coffee again and talk about anything as long as he talked to her. 

She enjoyed this spot in particular for the solitude that it offered. The wind picked up the closer she got to the water. She let it play in her hair and across her face.

Normally, she’d come here to think about Klaus. When Elijah was still there, he’d occupied so much of her time. The moments he left her alone were rare and typically only at night. Those lonely hours she wrote to Klaus. After Elijah had left, she had taken the liberty to walk around and explore. Here, along the river, Klaus occupied her mind in the day. But now she was here baiting him to come out.

She had walked in and out of stores with no real intent, but to enjoy feeling his eyes linger on her and seek her out when she re-emerged onto the street. She did make small purchases, items that screamed Caroline! Bonnie! Jenna!

She walked out on the dock, waiting there and looking at out the water as people came and went. Finally, she was alone.

* * *

Klaus watched her pop in and out of stores quickly. She didn’t seem to be there for any real reason other than to pass the time. He’d already been following her since the morning and he could confirm she was alone. No family, no man escorting her anywhere, and especially no Elijah. Had they only worked so well together over the summer because of how encapsulated in each other they had been? It had been so rare that he had to share her attention with anyone save for that weekend.

He couldn’t ignore the pull she had on him. He’d been twisted in to her orbit almost immediately, but it had taken him so long to even realize he was caught. He should run in the opposite direction. Get a witch to subdue her and just deal with her at the sacrifice. When he noticed that she was alone on the dock, sipping at her coffee, he nearly walked up to her. He imagined encasing her in his arms, her back to him. He would lean in to her neck and whisper a hello love. He liked to think she’d shiver. But would she try to kiss him or run?

Klaus had nothing but time. He could soak in the sight of her for hours. He didn’t have a plan, just knew that he wasn’t ready to confront her yet. He wasn’t ready for the truth, either way. He’d already been in town for days, cursing Elijah with each step for not giving him an exact address. When he had finally spotted her, his heart froze in his chest. It was as if someone had ripped it out, leaving a bloody hole behind.

He needed to follow her home, to know exactly where it was he could corner her. He could outlast her, especially if the sun went down. Only one of them was susceptible to the cold. She’d have to go back eventually. Still, he thought, he did like the idea of surprising her here in the streets. He could re-create their first meeting so many months ago. There would be something poetic about letting her bump into him again.

* * *

After much longer than she could stand, Elena turned around and started walking again, this time to the Borough Market. It would get dark soon and she’d wanted to get certain things for dinner. She was anticipating that after a full day of following her around the city, Klaus wouldn’t be able to resist knocking on her door. She liked the idea of setting the table for two, showing him that she knew him. That she was expecting him to come to her. She wanted him to know that she could make the space for him.

At least, she certainly hoped that he would come to her, knock at her door and let her really see him again. Not just sneaking glances here and there during the last few days. She was tired of holding him in her memory or in her periphery.

She had considered that she’d read him completely wrong. She figured that he would be angry with her at first, but that what he felt for her would override that. There was so much between them that still needed to be said. So much that she needed to explain.

Elena stood outside the market, bracing herself against the cold. It pricked at her face until her eyes began to water. He still hadn’t approached her and she couldn’t see him anymore. A stone sunk into her stomach. Maybe she was too confident in her assessment of him. Maybe Elijah had been right to call her a fool.

She made her way back home, feeling both stupid and disappointed. She was good at being alone, but she wasn’t good being without him.

Her flat filled with the smell of mutton curry, simmering on the stove. Elena was on her second _(third? fourth?)_ glass of wine, looking out at the window. She had to give Elijah credit, he picked a great view for her at least. The old clock tower was a marvel to look at and even more so at night. She could usually get lost in the majesty of it, but she couldn’t find a worthy distraction tonight.

She set the stove for low heat, not quite ready to eat yet, and stretched the length of the couch. She was listening to a synth pop song that fed into the ache in her chest. She sat upright, bouncing her arm on her leg. She walked over to the stove and took the pan off the heat. Scooping portions into two wide, blue bowls. Bringing them over to the table, a derisive voice bubbled to the surface of her brain.

_You are getting old and you think your life is still some teen fantasy? Grow up, Elena. You’re alone and sad. You did that. Don’t mistake the summer for anything other than what it was. Convenience._

She walked around the living room, thumbing through records and pouring another glass. _Which one is this?_ Minutes turned to hours and the food turned as cold as she felt. Restlessly, she settled on the ground, kicking her legs in the air until they were propped up on the couch.

_He isn’t coming for you. Face it, he’d rather wait another five hundred years than deal with you._

* * *

Klaus stood, paralyzed on the other side of her door. He could hear and smell everything coming from her flat. He could feel her agitation like a chalkboard under his nails as she moved from one position to the next.

Even with the assurance that she had no man inside, he still found himself waffling. He’d followed her all day and had so many chances to catch her out in the open, unprotected. It would have been more sensible to have confronted her earlier. She had a slight advantage here.

_What if she didn’t invite him in? What would he do if she did?_

Klaus was so prepared for destruction and death. He wasn’t ready for her to look at him with anything but fear. He’d crumble in the face of any other emotion.

* * *

Elena heard two abrupt, rapping knocks on her door. She bolted up too quickly, her head spinning between that and the wine. She got up, steadied herself, and ran her fingers up into her hair giving it a shake for volume. She tried to keep from running to the door and exhaled as she turned the knob, hoping it would be him. She couldn’t hide her excitement even if she’d wanted to try.

“Klaus…” She looked at him like he was a rare, lost to time painting that she’d just uncovered. It took his breathe away so he went for a joke to put distance between him and vulnerability.

“I’m not sure which name I prefer now, love.”

She laughed, eyes shimmering, and launched herself clumsily at him. She was drunk and she left her vigilance at the door. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her face burrowing into his shoulders. He stiffened, unprepared for this despite all the scenarios that had played out in his head. It definitely would have been easier if she had been angry with him. He was prepared to match her fire with his own. He wasn’t sure how to match this.

* * *

_Paris,_

_Did you know it would take months to see everything in the Louvre? I didn’t. Have you done that? I am betting you have. You have the time for it. I guess I do too, but I’m not sure I have the patience._

_Curiously yours,_

_Helen_


	21. About A Girl

Elena waited to feel his arms pull her in, but it never came. Slowly and cautiously, he pushed her off of him. The way he looked at her, like she had betrayed him in some fundamental way, stirred defiance in her chest. No, she thought, she hadn’t lied to him any more than he had lied to her. He didn’t get to act wounded for playing her the same way she’d played him.

She took two quick steps back past the threshold into her flat. “Ok, then. Nik.” Her arms crossed protectively under her breasts. “Whatever you prefer.”

He didn’t say anything as he placed two hands up and testing the doorway, pushed against that invisible magic that prevented him from coming inside.

“So, my brother gave you the deed to this place?”

She nodded, not seeing a point in explaining the situation now.

“How much of what happened this summer was a lie, doppelgänger?” His voice dripped with a forced contempt, hiding beneath it sadness.

“Nothing big,” she answered, leaning against the arm of her couch. “I just didn’t exactly offer the entire truth. The same as you.”

He nodded. “It’s impolite not to extend an invitation, Elena.”

“I don’t think that’s smart. Not yet.” She caught his upper lip twist up. At least he wasn’t yelling or worse. See, said that tricky voice, you’re already scaring her. Showing her what a monster you are. An abomination that no one will love. She will only be yours in death and nothing more.

“Klaus?” she called, snapping his attention back to her. “What do you think I lied about, specifically?”

“You pretended not to know me.”

"I could say the same about you. You pretended you were a different man. Doppelgängers and werewolves and sacrifices never really came up. You acted like, I was normal. Like you didn’t know what I was.”

“Some of that did come up though. That first day at the museum,” he reminded her.

She blushed, embarrassed about that day and that he’d remembered. “Maybe I was teasing just a little. I wanted to see how you’d react.”

“You’ve been taunting me this entire time. Pretending my compulsion worked. Are you wearing or ingesting? Should I taste you to find out?” He didn’t notice her face flushing with the image. “Or letting me hang outside your front door much as you are doing now. Let me in, Elena.” He persisted, hands gripping either side of the entrance.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t cancel out the rest of it. I let you in. I cared about you. It all started out as a lie. I don’t think there was any other way around that. But everything that happened after, that was real.” Her hand played along her neck, her collarbone soothing her nerves.

“Sweetheart, let me in.” His shoulders were hunched over and his head hung low.

“Do you promise you won’t hurt me?” She knew that it wouldn’t exactly stop him, but she even that little bit of assurance would make her feel better.

“I haven’t yet have I?” His eyes snapped back up to meet hers, outraged.

“Yet? Klaus, I need better than that.”

“I would never hurt you, Elena.” He genuinely looked pained that she had to pull that out of him. Her fingers drifted up to her lips, playing along the bottom. “Again. I will never hurt you again, love.”

“Alright, come in.”

“I’m not the one who’s been causing strife in this…” he motioned between the two of them, lost for the words to describe what they were to each other.

“Me? You think this is completely my fault? You’re the one who freaked out without bothering for an explanation! You looked like you were about to kill Elijah.”

“Because you care so much for my brother! Tell me, did you lay with him after me? Compare notes and laugh at my expense?” He was being so careful not to get too close to her. Circling around the couches like a lone wolf around a campfire.

“God no! Would you listen to yourself? Elijah and I have never slept together. Not like that.”

He rushed her then, hand on her neck and thumb on that hollow spot between collarbones. “Poor Elijah hasn’t tasted you yet. How interesting.”

“No! Not interesting. And stop making me out to be some kind of object you’d pass around. Elijah is my friend. He’s been my friend for a long time now. And you – you are…”

“I’m what, love? A joke? A humorous story? A shaggy-dog tale?” He was pushing her. Testing her like he did with everyone else.

“No! God! Why can’t you just hear me without using your jealousy as a crutch? You tell me what you are because about six months ago you were the terrifying monster who wanted to kill me to lift some curse. You used to be the reason I stayed awake at night, crying. You are the reason that I watch my friends from a distance. Shit, you might as well be the reason Stefan and I broke up.”

“Stefan? Salvatore?”

She looked off to the side, back at him and squinted. “Yeah…”

He waved off her confusion and paced around her flat. “What makes you think I care enough to be jealous?”

She suddenly felt exhausted, the weight of the day draining down her limbs. “Fine. Sure, you aren’t jealous. Maybe there is just a different reason why you are bringing up Elijah as a smokescreen so that you can avoid my feelings for you? So, please educate me. What are you, if not jealous?”

He spotted the pot on the stove, the bowls left untouched on the table. The two wine glasses, empty with just a little puddle of red staining the bottom. He turned to her, delighted and malicious. “Were you making dinner? Something romantic for two?”

“Yeah, I was making dinner for you.” She gave up. He was like trying to corral a horse without rope. He just kept running in a different direction from where she wanted to go.

“You were so confident I’d make an appearance tonight?”

“Not confident. Hopeful.” She corrected him. “You never answered my question.”

He fell into her armchair and leaned forward to stare at her, elbows on his knees. He looked at her as if he’d truly already forgotten, but she knew he just wanted to hear her ask again.

“What am I to you? What are we to each other?” she supplied.

“Oh I recall, love. I’m just thinking.”

She slid down into her couch cushions, still holding herself tight but slightly less guarded.

“That day at the museum, was the first time I’ve had any interest in humanity in the longest time. You intrigued me. You aren’t anything like any of the others.”

“I’m my own person.”

“Yes, I’ve become painfully aware of that. You remind me in so many ways.” It seemed like a joke and she eased a bit, feeling a little more comfortable. “I wanted to get to know you more. And then I did and I stopped thinking so much about the curse and what I had to do to break it. I just stopped. Because it was easier to be with you. And then you disappeared and I thought you’d betrayed me like everyone else has. I was expecting you to disappoint.”

“I didn’t Klaus. I was just sick.”

“Yes, I know Elena. I threw away the evidence of that when I left your place.” She was fully relaxed now like she had been with him over the summer. She wanted to cross the chasm to touch him, but she was too afraid to distract him. “You asked me once why I left you that night without saying anything. You said I was scared and it was close enough to the answer that I let you drop it. That night felt so abysmally normal. Taking care of you. Sleeping next to you. It made me think, what if she could be mine. What if you were mine in a way that was better than breaking my curse?”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“Elena? What’s so bad? Do you have any concept of having a singular goal for more than a thousand years? Having a single purpose! And then being confronted with the idea that there might be something better?” His voice was ragged with emotion. “It’s worse than having your identity shattered. It was more than that to me. It was my reason for being. This was supposed to have been easy and you’ve mucked it all up completely.”

“You messed up my plans too.” He looked back up at her, hands clenched together. “I was looking for any way to get away from you that day and I couldn’t find one. Every day, it got harder to find a way out. Everyone was telling me I was stupid. They were all trying to get me run. And then, one day I realized that I couldn’t find a reason because I didn’t want to find a way out from you. I didn’t want to leave you that day, Klaus. I really did mean to come back.”

“Then why did I never hear from you, love? Surely, your friends don’t have such a complete control over your actions.”

“Because you did hurt me that day. You scared me. You nearly shredded my lip in half. That was at first.”

“I truly do apologize, sweetheart. A mistake I deeply regret.”

“Then, I just got so complacent. I thought I got over the worst of missing you. I settled back into the feelings and familiarity I was used to. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, but more than that I was afraid of what I’d feel. I’ve had to dim everything about me for ten years. I’d become charcoal and you were there this summer, like the oil paints you love so well. So vivid and bright. It hurt to turn away from the light and I was scared I couldn’t face it again. That I might actually want more.”

The silence between them stretched like a highway, long and unending. Finally, she broke the tension. “I did write to you.”

“Yes, Elijah mentioned them.” He blinked through a trance, lost in her words.

“Would you like to read them?”

“I would like that very much, Elena.”

She disappeared into her room and walked back moments later with a stack of letters, ranging in different sizes from full pages to scraps of paper where she had jotted down her longing for him. “I miss yous” fell like confetti at her feet.

“It seems you had an abundance of time on your hands, even with Elijah’s company.” He smirked up at her even as she remained unamused. “You refer to me as Paris?”

Elena shrugged, “It seemed like a good idea at the time. In case anyone found them.”

“Am I? The man who so fell in love with your beauty that he’d steal you away from everything you’ve ever known?”

“I would like you to be.” She brought her hand up to her lip, picking at the sides. “Telling you how I missed you feels so hollow when what I feel is so much more than that.”

His eyes were glistening, compelling her to him. His head hung between his knees, hiding from her. She walked over to him and lifted his chin up so she could look into his eyes, swimming blue. He leaned back for her and she crawled into his lap, holding her arms around his neck. She laid a soft kiss on his lips that lingered.

“What if you could still break the curse? Release your werewolf side like you’ve wanted?”

“Elena. I admire your indulgent positivity, but I’m afraid that isn’t possible. I must-”

“Drain me dry. Trust me, I know.”

“Then you realize that would kill you.”

“I know.”

“Elena. Doppelgängers do seem to have some special qualities to them, but surviving death is typically not one of them. Unless.” He looked at with a mix of caution and hope. “Are you planning to become a vampire?”

“No. Sorry, I don’t think I could do that. There’s still so much I want to do. Things you have to be human to do.”

“Then what are you saying, sweetheart? Because I’m out of ideas of what you could be going on about.”

“Klaus. I want you to kill me.” She said it with a smile, as if it was the most reasonable request in the world.

* * *

_New World, 1001 A.D._

Two brothers stood atop a hill, overlooking the water. People have come and gone, they continue to stand. Sentinels of devotion. Not a word is spoken until the sun begins to set, making brighter the fire of her funeral pyre.

“I never did have the opportunity to see her after she died.”

“Her brother was adamant. They want nothing to do with us, Niklaus.”

“Still, I would have cherished the chance to see her face. One last time.”

“She didn’t love you.”

“No, she may not have loved me like she loved you, Elijah. But I loved her and she was one of few people who liked me. That was enough for me. How could I, the bastard son, ask for more?”

“She’s gone, Niklaus. You have to let her go.”

“I would do anything to bring her back. And that, is the difference between you and I.” Elijah turned, walking back into the forest to the rest of his family. Klaus remained until the fire died down, licking the last of its flames into the air.


	22. Riders on the Storm

_London, England 2019_

Her word rang heavy in his ears. He should be happy. This was everything he’d ever wanted. A willing, easy sacrifice. Everything he’d worked for, the power he lusted after at his fingertips. And yet.

“And what of you, Elena? Are you so ready to die?” He seemed so distracted, forcing himself to look anywhere but her.

She lifted up his necklaces in her hand, playing with them between her fingers. “Don’t be stupid. Of course I’m not.”

“Then please illuminate me to how you plan to accomplish both, releasing my wolf and you staying not only alive, but human.”

Now it was her turn to look away from him. “John came up with this idea. Bonnie will tie our souls together and John will die in my place.”

“You don’t seem like the kind to allow others to sacrifice themselves for you.”

“I’m not! I wouldn’t normally. Not if John weren’t dying anyway. He wants to do this for me.” She choked up and for the first time since she brought up the idea, they both looked at one another.

“That can’t be easy for you.” She nodded absently, focusing and fighting to hold so much in. “But I imagine it was an easy decision for him, as a father, to do this one thing for you. At least, I’ve witnessed the sacrifice parents make for their children through the centuries.”

“I never really thought too much about how John loves me. It was easier not to think about it at all. To keep pretending than to confront the distance between us. I should have been a better daughter.”

Anyone else would have corrected her, told her she was a good daughter. Klaus let the truth of her admission linger in the air, taking her at her word. Her chest heaved with tears she wouldn’t let out. Gasping for breath until Klaus pulled her down into a hug, enveloping her body in his. He let her cry it out on his shoulder, gently stroking her back. After a while she stopped, though they remained still, wrapped up in the other.

“Pardon me, if I don’t quite understand still. How exactly does this get you what you want? Surely this is not all for my benefit.”

She looked up at him, puffy eyes set against a flushed face. Her throat felt sore from holding in her tears. “You weren’t the only one looking for me. Looking to kill me.”

“I’m hurt. I’d always thought that was our special thing.”

She surprised him and herself with a sharp laugh. “Katherine’s father was part of this group called the Travelers. Where Petrovas are concerned, I guess curses follow. They also want to sacrifice me to break a curse.”

“So why me? Why bestow this generous gift of your life to me and not them?”

“You getting what you want doesn’t completely eradicate all the rules of nature and magic. If you get what you want, well, you get to be harder to kill. If they did, the consequences would be more devastating.”

_I would lose you._

“You’re saying I’m the less dangerous option.”

“Well, yeah I guess I am.”

“No one has ever considered me the less dangerous option.”

“Maybe you are my less dangerous option.”

He grinned then, that was as close she’d gotten to admitting she felt safe around him. She pulled at his necklaces, leading him towards a kiss.

“How confident are you in this witch of yours’ plan?”

“Bonnie,” she corrected. “And very. I trust her with my life.”

“What if I don’t?” He whispered into her lips as she kissed him, full and soft.

“Why does that matter?”

“After everything, I’d rather you not die.”

“But…I won’t. Well, I won’t stay dead.”

“That is not guaranteed.”

“Nothing ever is though.” She’d been hoping to distract him and the irritation she felt as he persisted bled into her tone.

“I don’t trust her and you can’t guarantee this will work. My confidence in you is failing.”

“I’m not asking you to trust this. I’m just asking you to do the thing you’ve chased for centuries. You punished Katherine over ruining this for you. Why are you being difficult now?”

“Difficult? Elena.” he grabbed her roughly by the arm. “Do you have any idea what it would do to me if you died and I was the reason? Have you considered that in your well thought out plan? No, of course you haven’t. You haven’t thought about me in this at all.”

“I didn’t think it would matter.”

“How could you not?”

“You’re Klaus Mikaelson. You spent centuries terrorizing anyone who crossed your path.”

“Am I a terror to you? Does my reputation precede me so well that there is no room left in your heart for another possibility?”

“You aren’t a terror to me, Klaus. I just meant that, in the grand scheme of your life I didn’t think this would bother you. I didn’t think-”

“You didn’t think I cared for you enough. You thought I would be fine with whatever the outcome was as long as I got what I wanted. Elena, love, I meant what I said on the beach all those months ago. I would raze cities for you. I would protect you against all who would wish you harm. But if I’m the one to harm you, then how can I shield you?”

“You could trust the faith I have in Bonnie. You could trust that this is the best outcome for everything I know and love, including you.”

“And your faith in me? Would you trust me to protect you?”

“I do! I know that you would.”

“So then let me!” he howled.

“Fine,” she conceded in a murmur. “Be my hero. Protect me.” She hadn’t realized how tight his grip on her had become until he released the tension in his fingertips. She could tell there would be tiny bruises doting along her upper arm and she was glad no one else was around to see them.

He pulled her into his orbit, into a possessive kiss that unmistakably yelled “ _Mine_!” in her head. This time, when she heard it, she wasn’t afraid. She leaned into it.

* * *

The days melt into each other in a haze of sweat and longing as Klaus and Elena reclaim the comfort they shared, but this time felt like more. This time, there were no secrets or conspiring against one another. With the weight of their mutual lies lifted, they could finally just be.

Their mornings were filled with lazy conversations, he loved how she considered the world and through her lens he saw it in a better way. He filled her days with museums, explaining the significance and history of the pieces he loved. The risks it took to become prominent. At nights, she filled him with the sound of her voice, reading from her favorite books. His head on her lap, playing with her hair as he soaked her in. In between, she made attempts to work, an ever present desire for independence at her core. At night, two lonely hearts filled each other up with their love.

It was towards the end of November that would all change.

* * *

Klaus grabbed her teasing leg and pulled her on top of him. She straddled him, hands steadying herself on his chest.

“We’re never getting out of bed at this rate.”

“Outside is overrated,” a smirk lit up his face as he tried to pull her down.

She laughed as she ducked his lips, planting small kisses from his chest to his stomach, just as hers growled. “Ok, here’s the deal. I actually need to eat. So, let’s go get coffee and some breakfast and then we can come back here and do whatever you want.”

“Is that a promise?” He grabbed her hips, trapping them against his own and enjoying the flush along her cheeks and neck. 

She leaned down closer, rolling her hips grinding her core into him. She feels him getting hard for her, his eyes flutter and she rolls off him quickly while his attention is diverted. “More like a threat.”

“You are cruel, sweetheart.” He groans.

“I never claimed I wasn’t, Klaus.” She shrugs her shoulders and looks for her jeans on the floor.

It’s as they are exiting the coffee shop, pastries and coffee in hand, that Elena asks to walk back along the river. She reached down with her free hand and grabbed hold of his. She leaned into him as they walk together, feeling like a normal woman for once. Klaus was about to say something when a familiar couple walked past them. He turned around keenly, confused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he lied. As they kept walking, Klaus noticed less and less people on the path until finally, they were alone.

“Let’s get back home, Elena.” He finally said after long minute of that unsettled feeling. They turn around and are quickly confronted with his unnerving feeling.

“Maria? Adrian?” Elena was genuinely confused. “We are you doing here?”

Maria looked to Adrian, her eyes devoid of the teasing light she often held. “I thought you said she was no longer with the hybrid.”

Adrian had already pulled a long, slender dagger out and merely offered Maria a shrug. “She wasn’t the last time I saw her.”

She could hear the difference in their voices, thicker and dangerous. Their eyes flashed black, once, twice, and Klaus pushed Elena back behind him. “Passengers,” she whispered.

Gladly, he reached out to grab Adrian’s neck. “These them then?” Before she could answer, Maria buried a knife in Klaus’s arm. He groaned and turned to her, releasing Adrian long enough to back hand Maria, sending her flying into the river. He turned his sight back on the man and did what he’d been eager to do since those days at the beach. He shoved him hard, tripping him. Adrian fell to the ground and Klaus was on him like a dog with a bone. He dug deep into Adrian’s chest, relishing in the wrenching noises he made. His fingers wound their way around his heart and Klaus yanked.

He partially registered Elena screaming, but his baser instincts took over. He couldn’t explain what compelled him to do it, but he leaned down and took a bite out of the still beating heart. Leaving it on the ground for whoever to find. To send a message, he considered or to punish the man for daring to fancy her. He picked up Elena and rushed to get her home, all thoughts of the passenger in Maria floating down the Thames forgotten.

Once home, she stumbled out of his arms shaking. He made to move closer to her, comfort her. She pulled back, still shaking and muttering incoherence. 

“I sh-should probably call Bonnie. She would want to know about this. We have to, need to figure out a plan.”

“Elena, I think it best you calm down before making any plans.” He tried to corral her to the couch, but she kept dodging him at every turn and avoiding looking at his mouth she’d been kissing only hours ago.

“No, I think the sooner the better.”

“Your heart is about to burst out of your chest, love.”

She looked so struck by that. Slowly, she stopped looking so lost. “Is that a joke to you?”

“Your safety is never a joke to me.”

“You ripped his heart out! It wasn’t even him. Whoever had possessed him is now somewhere else. They didn’t die, he did!”

He understood now. “That is why you are backing away from me? You can’t ignore what I am! You can’t pretend that I’m just your normal boyfriend in your normal apartment with your normal life. You. Elena. Are. Not. Normal!”

“I know that! Don’t you think I know that?”

He crowded her now, closing in on her space, fencing her in with his arms. “No, love, I don’t. I think you are trying to create a fantasy here.” His voice softened even as her hands pushed against him, futilely resisting him.

“It’s not fair,” she cried out.

“I’ve found life rarely is fair.” He held on to her until she stopped shaking. She was angry with him, but she also was angry with herself for ignoring the obvious; she had to accept even those darkest parts of him as she relished in the better parts. It wasn’t fair to either of them to try to pretend he was anything else.

Finally, she pulled back and looked up at him. “Boyfriend?”

He laughed, harshly. “I consider myself so much more than just a pedantic label. My soul burns for you, dear heart.” His fingers trailed down a tendril of hair. He reached down to grab her hand, weaving it up his stomach to settle on his chest. “We are so much more than even language can comprehend. We are intertwined, fated. I am yours as you are mine. In a way no one else could ever hope to have us.”

Her fingers curled up in the forest green of his shirt, drawing herself closer to him. “Do you mean that?”

“Oh how it pains me that you’d continue to question me.” She looked away from him as if trying to find an answer. “You and your questions, Elena. Will you ever be sure of anything?”

With no answer good enough to be found on the living room floor, Elena leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He kissed the top of her head and conceded defeat into her hair, “I suppose you wouldn’t be you without your infuriating questions.”


	23. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Elena asked for some tea while she booted up her computer. She had managed to text Bonnie earlier before fighting with Klaus. He was right, she was trying to cut off the parts she didn’t like about him. She was trying to pretend he hadn’t spent so much of his life caked in blood, that he wasn’t a man who would rip anyone into pieces for her. He was, she mused, like a cat. A much more dangerous cat, but still. He brought her the hearts of her enemies as a thoughtful offering. She shuddered, trying not to linger too much on what her life would have been like if he’d caught her in Mystic Falls a decade ago.

“I don’t understand why you need to call the witch, sweetheart.” He called to her while filling up the kettle.

“Bonnie!”

“Fine, why call Bonnie?”

“Because I want to talk to her about the sacrifice. You can’t protect me without killing people and I’d rather not live the rest of my life watching you rip organs out of out of bodies.”

Before Klaus could respond, Bonnie answered the call looking a little disheveled. Damon swung his arm behind her, sliding a coffee mug in front of her.

“What’s going on? Your text didn’t really explain a lot.” Bonnie looked so tired, her eyes opening a bit more with each blink.

“I’m sorry, I forgot about the time difference!”

"Don’t worry about it,” her friend tried to dismiss.

“Or, ya know, call us back in a couple hours? Let us go back to sleep?” Damon interjected.

“Ignore him.”

“We ran into some passengers and it was terrifying. I’m fine now, but I don’t know how to fight someone when they are occupying innocent bodies. I’m scared that they could come after you or Matt or someone else.”

“Elena, don’t worry about this. We will fly out and bring you-wait. We?”

“Oh, yeah. Well-.” Before she could finish, Klaus pulled up a chair next to her, mimicking Damon with his arm resting comfortably, insatiably over Elena. His shirt hung low on his chest and she could just hear Bonnie’s judgements in her head.

“Here you go, love. Ahh yes the witch and the reckless Salvatore.”

“Elena,” Bonnie hissed, “When did this happen?”

“Oh, Elena and I have just been spending a few weeks with each other since I arrived in town. Sightseeing and exploring, the like.” He lingered on the word exploring, pointedly.

“Klaus showed up a while ago. I’ve been catching him up to speed on the plan.”

“Which,” he added, “I do not approve of.”

“That makes two of us,” snorted Damon, “A couple weeks, Elena? How long does it take to explain everything to a centuries old lunatic?”

“Well, you see there was a bit more than just explaining. We had so much catching up to do. It was all very personal.” Klaus practically purred in her ear and she swatted him away.

“What does that mean?”

“It will work,” Bonnie distracted both vampires, confident and forcefully. “Look, Klaus. My magic has gotten Elena this far.”

“Except, I found her.”

“I’m not convinced that was anything more than a happy accident for you. Still, it’s been working and she’s alive. I can protect her better if the Travelers think she is dead. That’s where you come in. Do your sacrifice the way you’d planned it before, except make it bigger.”

“Bigger?”

“Yes, advertise it. Brag about what you’ve done. Captured the doppelgänger. Releasing your hybrid nature. Etcetera. Make it a spectacle. Dramatic. Cast waves in supernatural circles. They will catch wind of it and know you’ve killed her. That you beat them to it. They won’t be on the lookout for another doppelgänger for another five-hundred years or so. Between that and using John to mask her presence, I have it covered. Basically like logging on from a different IP address. Essentially, Elena will be using John’s IP address. ”

“Brilliant plan, but only if you can bring her back.”

“That won’t be a problem. You just need to make a good performance of it.”

Elena doubted that would be an issue for Klaus.

* * *

The following night, Elijah showed up at her door. She was surprised, but she assumed Bonnie probably called him to give him an update on Klaus. Either way, Elena invited him in. She was handing him a drink when Klaus sauntered in from the bedroom.

“Elijah, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” He grinned, but Elena could tell from the way his eyes narrowed that he was nettled as if Elijah was a literal thorn.

“Niklaus. I’ve come to make sure that Elena stays out of harm’s way.”

Klaus sneered as he eyed his brother. “Well, she has me for that.”

“And yet, she was still attacked.”

“She is right here and can speak for herself.” If this was how they were going to act around her, she was already planning her escape.

Both men turned to bore a hole in her. Elijah was the first to speak. “Apologies, Elena. I was merely overcome with concern.”

“You really needn’t be, brother.”

“Okay, stop! It’s like you are dogs marking your territory in passive aggressive energy. Quit.”

“Elena, I was hoping I could have a chance to speak to you, privately.” Elijah turned his back to Klaus to talk to her, furthering incensing Klaus.

“Certainly not, Elijah! Don’t you have somewhere better to be? Like dealing with our siblings or have you neglected to wake them up?”

“Klaus, it’s fine. Will you go pick up something for dinner? Please?” He didn’t quite say anything beyond unintelligible grumbles. He did, however, lean down to capture her mouth with his. His hand at her back pulled her in closer as her hand instinctively snaked up his chest, neck, and into the expanse of his hair. He broke the kiss first, lightly rubbing a thumb over her bottom lip, gave Elijah a glance, and stormed out of the flat. Elena turned slowly back, to look at Elijah. Her lips were pursed together, but she refused to apologize.

“So,” he started, “You and Klaus are together now?”

She shrugged. “Yeah we are. I can’t really explain it to you if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“No, I suppose not. Hard to describe a hurricane when you are in the middle of one.”

“You’re being judgmental. And honestly a little rude.”

“I am being accurate. He will tear you apart, Elena.”

“What if I want to be torn apart?” And just like that she admitted to him what was missing between her and Elijah, passion. She wanted to be untethered in love and Elijah couldn’t do that to her.

“You cannot mean that.” For the first time since they’d met, he looked almost disgusted with her. He’d always held her up on this impossible to reach pedestal. She wondered if her fall was caused by her relationship with Klaus or that she was having a relationship with anyone.

She looked off and lightly chewed her tongue, thinking. “Maybe I do,” she said finally. “I don’t always know exactly what is happening with Klaus, but I do know where I stand with him. He wants me and he makes it known.”

“That can’t be your only qualification for a relationship. Just that he wants you.”

“No, of course it isn’t. I want him too. I’m choosing him. Choosing this.”

“How can you? He would have slaughtered your entire family if you hadn’t left your home.”

“But he didn’t.”

“You are mincing realities, Elena. You’ve never been this impractical before.”

“What do you want me to say? I won’t try to justify myself to you.”

“Honesty. That’s what I want.”

“I am being honest with you! Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it a lie.” She couldn’t tell if or how much Klaus was rubbing off on her, but this was the first real fight she was having with Elijah.

“Honesty about how you feel about me. About our relationship these past few years.” She stared at him, truly stunned. Suddenly, she was glad Klaus had left. If she thought any of their previous fights were bad, she was nervous to think about the reaction this would elicit from him. “You can’t tell me that you haven’t felt anything for me in the time we’ve spent together. Elena, I refuse to believe that you’ve felt nothing while I felt everything.”

“Elijah, please stop. This isn’t fair to me. You had so many opportunities at this conversation and you never took them. You can’t expect to just come to me with all this now.”

“Why not? Because you love my brother?”

“This has nothing to do with Klaus. It is unfair to me because I was pining for you! I was so sick with wanting to be with you. I felt pathetic. You can’t just come here now that I’m with him and expect me to jump up and down at the chance of You. It’s unfair because I tried so many times to show you how I felt and you ignored each of them. It’s unfair because now that I don’t want you, you keep pushing for me.”

“You pined for me?”

“God yes, Elijah. How couldn’t I? You were my hero in so many ways. You are one of my best friends and I felt safe with you. I wanted you.”

“And now?”

“Now? You are still my hero. But so is he. And so much more.” She hated seeing him so sad, but not enough to comfort him. She was hurt too and she’d learnt to prioritize her feelings over making him feel better.

* * *

Dinner was tense and Elena excused herself shortly after finishing her meal. She was exhausted from the past couple of days especially after having it out with Elijah earlier. She squeezed Elijah’s shoulder as she passed by him on her way to Klaus. He wrapped an arm around her hips and she hugged his head to her stomach. When he pulled back, she laid a gentle kiss on his cheek and he smiled up at her as she walked away.

“So, did you have a wonderful conversation, Elijah?”

“It was informative.”

“Did you beg her to leave me? Tell her what a monster I am?”

“I did.”

“Well, you seem unsuccessful seeing she is still here with me.” Klaus eyed the bedroom door, suddenly concerned that she’d be standing there with luggage. Relieved, he turned back to Elijah.

“It appears she is in love with you.”

“She told you that?” Klaus was pleased, but also annoyed that her first declaration of love for him should be for his brother.

“Not in those words, but she didn’t need to.” Klaus smiled, contented. “You don’t need to gloat to me, Niklaus.”

“Oh, but why stop when it feels so good. Besides, I have every right to gloat. You tried to steal away her affections and here, without trying, I triumph.”

“Do you love her? Or is that all for my benefit? To punish me with her?”

“My interest in her has nothing to do with you.” His jovial attitude shifted quickly into something darker, more serious.

“I doubt that very much. I believe it has something to do with me. You’re punishing me for Katerina still. So, do you?”

“Do I love her?”

“Stop avoiding the question, Niklaus.”

“Why do you care to know, Elijah?” Klaus was reveling in his taunts.

“I want to make certain that she is in good hands. That you won’t hurt her, in any way.”

“I would never hurt her. And she is no longer yours to be concerned about.”

“And yet, the Bennett witch tells me you are to kill her on the next full moon. How could you prioritize your power by following through with such a plan if you were in love with her?” Elijah knew that would strike a chord. It was a low blow, but even the noblest of men sometimes strike low.

Klaus pushed the chair back, marking the floor permanently. “I think it is time for me to retire as well. Good evening. Pleasure as always.”

* * *

He crept into the bedroom, dark and quiet except for the sound of Elena’s calm, even breathes. He pulled the sheets back and pulled her to him like he was stuck in a blizzard and she was fire. He buried his face in her hair, taking in the scent of her. She stirred and turned back to look at him, rewarding him with a sleeping smile.

“Give me a month, Elena. Please.”

“A month, for what?”

“To change your mind. Abandon this plan of yours. We could run together. I’ve had enough practice. I can keep you safe.”

More awake now, she turned fully to him. “Klaus, I won’t change my mind.”

“You might. I can be persuasive.”

“I won’t.” She was worried that by talking more, explaining herself she’d be giving weight to his argument.

“Give me a chance.”

“Why? Why can’t you just follow the plan?”

“Because I can’t kill you.”

“You won’t. Bonnie will bring me back. I won’t leave you.”

“Do you remember the line I quoted you on the beach?”

“How could I forget? You were sweet. And cheesy.” Their hands were tangled up in each other. Her fingers twirling a golden curl around and around.

“Yes, well there is another play. Faust by Goethe.”

“Different play?” As much as she loved reading, plays were just not her forte.

“Yes. Faust is so consumed with power and knowledge that he trades his soul to the devil for it. Right before the devil comes to collect, Faust falls in love, but it is a tragic love. He tries to rescue her, but she refuses him. She is his salvation and she rejects him.”

“You think I’ll reject you? Klaus, I know what I’m asking of you. I won’t be afraid of you.”

  
“No, you misunderstand. You are my salvation, Elena. How could I bear to be without you?”

“You’d be doing it to save me.” She was beginning to regret waking up for him. She’d been expecting a better surprise.

“And what if you don’t come back? What if you stay dead?”

“That is a risk, but-”

“One that I’m unwilling to take.”

“If I agree to this and give you a month, will you respect my decision at the end and do what I’m asking?”

“If you promise to truly give me a chance.”

“Fine. I promise.”

She turned over, too angry that he kept pushing the line for her to give in to the way her body felt around him especially in bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of love Elijah shaped interruptions.


	24. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

The following day, Elena called her best friends to give them a heads up. She hoped Bonnie wouldn’t freak out too much and knew, lovingly, Caroline would.

“Actually, that kind of works out for me. It will give me some time to prepare for the spell.” Elena was relieved that Bonnie hadn’t objected. Out of everyone, she hated letting Bonnie down the most.

“Bonnie! What if he changes her mind?”

“He won’t change her mind, Caroline. This is the best option.” She sounded so certain, concrete in her belief.

“You don’t know that! He could convince her and then what? She’ll never come home. Oh but Elena, is it bad that I think this is a little romantic?” Elena cracked a smile. Leave it to Caroline to be the starry-eyed dreamer in any situation. 

“Hah, no it’s not bad. I guess it is romantic in a way. Look Bonnie, I told him I would give him a chance. If I do, he has promised to respect my decision and follow through with it.”

“I don’t really get why he is trying to change your mind. It’s not like he’s losing out on anything. This is the best deal he’s ever gotten.”

“Oh Bonnie! Don’t you understand? He’s in love. It’s all so Romeo and Juliet. Only the death won’t be forever.” Elena, shifted, visibly looking uncomfortable.

“Or he is bored.” Bonnie offered, “Besides, Romeo didn’t kill Juliet or run her out of town.”

“Come on. You are so practical. Isn’t it obvious? He totally loves her. So, is Klaus like your boyfriend now?”

“Care, I don’t think I can exactly classify what we are.”

“Try. For me?” Caroline begged, her eyes opened impossibly wide, making Elena laugh.

“Dedicated?” she finally offered after searching for an adequate word.

“Oh that sounds romantic,” she rolled her eyes. “You can be dedicated to growing out a bob, not a boy.”

“I think, we are committed? At least, I feel like I am. It’s not exactly like we’ve had that conversation. Does he feel free to be with other people? I’m not sure honestly. It’s not as if I’ve had the opportunity to bring up boundaries in a relationship with him or anything.”

“So, you are committed to him but you don’t know if he is to you? Sounds like a great way to start a relationship.” Bonnie scoffed.

“Come on! Bonnie! Obviously he is. He’s trying to get her to change her mind about the sacrifice. Why would he if he wasn’t?”

“Who knows why he does anything? He is a psycho killer. Caroline! He literally killed you.”

“Yeah, but I’m better now.”

“So, it’s alright with you then?”

“Well, I mean no, but that was such a long time ago. I can’t really get that mad about it when I like being a vampire so much. I like myself like this.”

“It isn’t like he meant for you to survive.” Bonnie kept gnawing on the old argument.

Caroline responded with a noncommittal shrug. “So, tell us, what is he like?”

“Actually, I have to get off the call. Talk to you both later!” Bonnie left before either Caroline or Elena properly said goodbye.

“She’s still kind of weird about vampire stuff.” Caroline offered weakly.

“How? She’s dating Damon.”

“Yeah, but I think she counts me and the Salvatores as exceptions. Now at least.”

“Well, you are pretty exceptional, Care.” The blonde responded with a wide smile.

“Oh, I know. So, is Klaus good to you?”

“Yeah, he is. It’s been nice. I mean, at first it was scary because I thought he would kidnap me any day. But after a while I got comfortable around him. He feels like someone I can count on. He’s the first person I’ve really let in that way since...”

“Stefan,” Caroline supplied the answer.

“Exactly. I didn’t think I was missing out on anything. I thought I was happy enough and that was the most I could hope for.”

“Elena. You know you deserve more.” Caroline’ tender tone wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

“It’s one thing to hear you say it and another thing to feel it though.”

“I understand that.” Her voice trailed off. “So, you are? Happy then? You said you were committed to him.”

“Yeah, I’m happy.”

“Good, good.”

“Is something on your mind?”

“Nope!” It was too rushed to be true.

“If something was, you could talk to me about it. You know I want you to be happy too.”

“I know. Maybe we could talk after all this is over? It’s just a lot and I’d rather do it in person.”

“Of course. Whenever you want.”

* * *

Klaus was listening to the conversation from behind the bedroom door. He could tell the witch might be a problem. She didn’t seem to approve of him or his relationship with Elena. He couldn’t dispose of her and was troubled trying to solve this problem without resorting to violence.

He was happy that he seemed to have support from the vampire, though he didn’t recall turning her. Or, at least, being part of the process.

He had been piecing together the puzzle that revealed Elena’s first love was Stefan Salvatore, but he still felt irritated by the declaration. That he should have been her first love could prove to be a problem in the future.

_Did she still love him? What would happen if she ever found out about their time in Chicago?_

She wasn’t completely comfortable with his darkness. He wanted her to fully accept all of him. It would be a tough road and he knew better than to lay it all at her feet at once, but he wondered if his time with Stefan would be a roadblock in their relationship.

It worried him that she couldn’t say to her friends where she stood with him. That there would be any hesitation in her voice where he was concerned was alarming.

_Had he not made it clear enough to her?_

True, he hadn’t confessed his love for her or asked her out or whatever trite gesture it was people did now to stake claim with one another. Still, she should know. He would find a way to correct that mistake as soon as possible.

* * *

Klaus waited in the bedroom, pretending he hadn’t heard every word of her conversation. Busying himself with his phone. Elena opened the door, two bourbons in hand.

“Hey, I figured you could use a drink after listening in on all that gossip.”

“Elena-”

“Don’t bother pretending to be offended.” She winked at him as she handed over the glass, sat on the bed, and sipped at her own drink. “I sort of expected you to anyway.”

He downed his and sat it on the end table. “Do you really not know if I’m committed to you?”

She shrugged, but watched him closely. “It’s not something we’ve discussed.”

“Are you worried about other women, love?”

“I’m not not worried. Your idea of being together could be different from mine. Or you could get bored of me.”

Klaus sauntered over to her, picking up her glass and putting it next to his. “Elena, how could you ever bore me?”

“I’m just a human. We have boring human problems.”

Klaus situated himself between her legs, standing so that her legs were wrapped just below his hips. He held her chin up to look at him. “You are no mere human. You and your problems are far from boring.”

She rolled her eyes, “Doppelgänger then.”

“Oh don’t say it like it is such a bad thing. You being the Petrova doppelgänger is what brought us together. I’ve met two women blessed with your face in my lifetime and you are the first to truly let me in. Do you have any idea how special that is to me?”

She leaned back on her elbows. “Tell me.”

He crawled on top, hovering just above her. “You are my destiny.” He kissed her shoulder. “You are my salvation.” And her other shoulder. “I would wage a war and spill all the blood of our combined enemies for you.” He leaned in and kissed her neck. “I am yours, entirely and without doubt.” The other side of her neck, he laid another soft kiss. “And if you absolutely need to hear it, I love you.” Finally, he kissed her full on the mouth.

“What woman doesn’t want to hear that?”

He laughed and twisted his hips down, grinding into her with his growing erection. She pulled him down for a deeper kiss, driven by a magnetic need to taste him. They simultaneously clung to one another while trying pull apart to strip the other down, ravenous to feel each other’s skin.

He slipped the tiny fabric of her dress strap off her shoulder, kissing her soft skin as his fingers found the zipper at her back. He helped her shimmy out of her dress and stood above her, pulling his own shirt up over his head before descending on her again. He kissed a line down her stomach, pulling her underwear down and exposing her completely to him.

He made a move towards her slick heat but she interrupted him, sitting up abruptly. Kissing his chest while she undid his jeans. Her hands wrapped around his cock, coaxing him as she laid back down. Her legs, strong on either side of him, encouraged him closer. He played with her, edging himself just at her entrance as he dove down, capturing her small, pert breast in his mouth. He teased her there with his mouth as he tormented her lower by refusing to satiate her needs, so close he could feel how wet she already was with want.

She couldn’t stand it any longer, tugging at his arms. “Klaus, please!”

He smiled, dragging his lips up her chest along the soft skin of her neck. She bucked against him, attempting to find some friction where she felt so empty. He growled, pushing her hips back down into the bed. “Not yet, love,” he whispered in her ear. “Please what?” He nibbled on her earlobe, pulling her further into frustration.

This was a game and Elena didn’t like to lose. She reached up and guided him with a fistful of hair until their eyes locked. She could get lost in his eyes, dark storms delighting her soul. She wet her lips, drawing his attention down and then further down as his eyes followed her hand, snaking down her belly and below. Her graceful fingers played along her clit, sliding inside herself as she found release on her own. Her breathe quickened as she picked up her pace.

He looked up into her face, lost in the sight of her subverting him. She writhed under him, the only contact between them was her hands clenching her hold on his hair. He leaned down, tasting her at her neck, afraid to get left behind. He closed the gap between their bodies, desperate for her warmth. Suddenly, he was captivated by her eyes again. She was still for just a moment before he felt her hand around him, low and guiding him back to her. He plunged into her as she steadied an encouraging hand on his thigh.

His rhythm was fast and hard, punishing her for leaving him if even for a moment. She left little red crescent moons on his back as she came, marking her pleasure on him with each sweet drag in and out. He followed quickly, calling her name and collapsing into her prone body.

She held him against her breast, stroking his hair, curled and wild from their love making. She felt like some divine being, a goddess. After so many years of running, she found someone who poured his love into her with no limits. She finally felt strong outside of the shadows.

It wasn’t until afterwards, as he was holding her, that Klaus realized she hadn’t said it back. He brushed her hair back from her face and traced the edge of her cheek, soft and warm. She’d already fallen asleep and barely stirred when he pulled her in closer, as if physical proximity was his problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next four chapters are some of my favorites - each one is a week of the month Klaus has to convince her out of the sacrifice.


	25. In Bloom

_Flåm, Norway 2019_

Descending into Haukåsen, Elena was reminded of her previous trips into San Francisco. It was the only reference point she had, but that paled in comparison to this with the mountains jutting up on either side of her. It was a little nerve-wracking to see so much water as the plane landed. She imagined them plunging into the shocking depths of the cold water. It felt so dangerous and it was also incredibly beautiful. It reminded her of Klaus, she thought as she squeezed his hand and gave him a shaky smile. She calmed down as his thumb circled her palm, bringing her attention back to him and not on the macabre image of drowning.

“It’s smaller than I thought.”

“What were you expecting, love?”

“I dunno. A castle. Towers spiraling up into the sky. A moat?”

“You were expecting a moat?”

“Sure, you seem like a moat kind of guy.”

Klaus drove up the winding road in Flåm to a small farmhouse just on the water’s edge. The barn sat back, further away from the road. The white house seemed simple enough from the outside. There wasn’t much special about the outside though the views of the mountain were spectacular.

The inside was beautiful, light wood paneling everywhere and brick in the light grey kitchen. She was struck by how plain everything seemed. Klaus had always seemed so dark and mysterious, like a storm cloud on the edge of breaking. This house seemed too bright. He didn’t fit in here.

She sat her bags down by the couch and fell into the cushions, staring off at the snowy mountain peaks. She heard him somewhere off in a different part of the house, turning on lights and opening cabinets.

“You seem disappointed, Elena.” He handed her a glass of amber liquid as he sat down next to her. His weight settled into the couch, pulling her closer to him. She swung her legs around, resting on his lap and letting the setting sun darken her face, her body just an outline against the window.

“I’m not. This just doesn’t really seem like you. I’m trying to figure out what’s here that you think is going to change my mind about the sacrifice.”

“See that’s the point, love. You have an idea of who I am in your head, but you don’t really know me. Not truly. You have me set in your mind as being one way, but there are other aspects besides those which are dark and scary.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t really answer the question of why here, specifically?”

“I was born in Mystic Falls, but this is where my family is from. Elijah and Finn, they were born here. And another, though she died of disease.”

She looked around, wondering just how old this farmhouse was, eliciting a soft chuckle from him.

“Not here in this house, Elena. Here on this land. You seem confused, love.” His fingers danced across her knees, sending small sparks through her skin.

“You and Elijah have these British accents. I figured that’s where you were from, originally.”

“I’m surprised he never mentioned that to you. No, we were not originally from England. The accent is just a lovely by-product of the years we spent there. The Mikaelsons were Norsemen before settling in the New World, your America.”

“So, you were Vikings?” His nose crinkled as he shook his head. “What? You don’t like that?”

“Just sounds odd to me.”

“So, in a way, you have taken me home?” 

“That, I do like the sound of.”

“Except your family isn’t here?”

“I doubt either of us are ready for that meeting.”

* * *

They spend the next few days falling into a domestic pattern. Elena had the sense that this was part of his plan, to slowly introduce different elements of the great, big “Why”. The thing that would change her mind. She appreciated it better this way.

One night after dinner while he massaged her calves, sore from the day’s hike, he asked her about Jeremy.

  
“I guess him and that Galen guy are still travelling together. I called to tell him I wouldn’t be at the flat, but he said he didn’t need it anymore.”

“Do you worry about him?”

“As much as I ever have, but I know he can take care of himself.” His hands roamed further up her leg and she caught a mischievous grin spreading over his face. “You don’t talk about your family much.”

“Well, you’ve met Elijah.”

“Are the rest of them like him?”

“No, no one is quite like Elijah.”

“So, tell me about them. Please? What was it like in Mystic Falls at the beginning?”

“It was exciting. To be somewhere new. We lived near a werewolf pack.”

“What? Seriously? There were werewolves that far back?”

“Oh, sweetheart. The creatures that go bump in the night are not new.”

“Are you a creature that goes bump in the night?”

“I think you know the answer to that, love.” He pinched her ass, laughing as she yelped. She wondered at what point they’d become so comfortable with one another that jokes could pass so easily between them. “Yes, there were werewolves. And witches. That was my mother, Esther.”

He seemed solemn now. A look passing over his face she hadn’t seen yet. It unnerved her to see him so sad.

“That’s how my brother, Henrik, died. The wolves.”

“They attacked him?”

“Yes and…it was my fault. I wanted so badly to see them. Felt a pull. Didn’t really understand it at the time. But I thought I could protect him. We both wanted to watch them turn, you see.”

“Klaus...” she made to move closer to him, offer him some kind of comfort but he waved her off.

“I should have done better by him. I didn’t understand it at the time, but that pull I felt was for my own kind.”

“Why didn’t your parents just explain it all to you?”

“How much did Elijah actually tell you?”

She shrugged. “Not this type of stuff. Just how you are. Your temper. The things that might trigger it. The things you loved like art. He told me about you, but he never really told me the why of you.”

_So, he was laid out for Elena like a dossier and not a person._

“Mikael was not my father though the marks he left on my soul are the kind that only a father can leave. My mother had an affair there, shortly after arriving, with a man that was part of the pack. Mikael figured it out fairly quickly and he let me know, in so many ways.” Finally, he had let her grab a hold of his hand. The light squeeze she gave him siphoned off some of the pressure in his chest he felt as he recounted these stories. "He despised me. Thought me an abomination. Ironic that he should have been the crux behind my siblings and me becoming vampires. No matter what though, I was always the one he was most disappointed in.”

She thought that when he finally opened up to her, she’d have to confront the worst of him. She had no idea that she’d be privy to the worst that had been done to him. Had never considered his childhood or the horrific ways he’d been abused. There was plenty of physical abuse, but she wondered as she listened to his stories if he’d known about emotional abuse. Esther seemed better in comparison to Mikael, but even still Elena saw the neglect in between the words spoken aloud. It made her feel protective of Klaus, as if she could place her body between him and the world.

* * *

Hours and multiple drinks later, he was spent. She caught his face in her hands and tilted his head up. “You are not the worst things that anyone has ever said about you. You are not just the worst things you’ve ever done. Inside you exists multitudes and they are all true.”

“You don’t think I’m a great, evil villain?”

“Oh I do. Just because I want to be with you doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that truth of you. But you are also a hero. To me.”

“Truly?”

“Of course.”

She stood up, pulling him up with her. Leading him by the hand upstairs to the lofted bedroom. The sun had set hours ago and moonlight illuminated the room. She let go of his hand as she walked the last few feet to the bed alone. Klaus looked at her, confused. It wasn’t a sensuous invitation, but something softer that he didn’t recognize. She beckoned him to join her and he crawled up next to her. She wrapped her arms around him and laid his head on her chest, purposefully.

“I feel safe with you. I know that you are a monster who has done and said terrible things. I also know that you are a man who would care for me when I’m sick. You would do everything in your immense power to protect me. I know that you love me and you want to make me happy. A man like that is not just a monster.” As she spoke, she wove her fingers in between his curls, gently stroking. He listened to her heart beat and as she spoke it was even, consistently beating at a steady pace. “You once told me that I couldn’t deny your dark parts and I don’t. I see you, all of you. Sometimes, it is hard for me to not freak out. I just need some time with all of that. But I don’t need time to understand what I feel for you.”

The truth of her words struck him and he thought of how a week ago, he felt the need to pull her practically inside of himself. Here, now, he finally found the solution to his problem. It wasn’t about needing her with him physically, but it was this – she had opened up a place for him in his heart. He settled in, comfortable that she’d never close herself off to him again.

* * *

At the end of the week, Klaus finally took her into town to a pub that looked more like a church than a brew house. She mentioned this to him as he led her to a table in the corner, away from most of the other patrons.

“Ah yes, that’s because it is, an old stave church. There’s not an abundance of them left. Wood is a fickle thing.” He took her coat off her shoulders, letting his fingers trail down her arms. She wondered if she’d always feel like he could light her body on fire or if that feeling would fade with time. She hoped it wouldn’t.

“So, we are a quarter of the way through your scheme. When are you going to tell me what it is?”

“Now there, love, that would ruin all the fun.” He held up two fingers for the waitress and before she knew it, there were two beers in front of her. Before the woman left, she lightly touched his arm, leaning down and introducing herself. Dark eyes followed the woman as she left until Klaus caught her attention again.

“Skål sweetheart.” They clinked their glasses and just like that an unspoken competition began between them. The thought struck Elena as they were several drinks in. This felt achingly, perfectly normal. Average. Boring. The drama of her life fuzzed around the edges of her vision and the only thing that remained clear was in front of her, Klaus.

“Are you even just a little buzzed?” she asked, indignant.

“Hardly,” he leaned in close, “I’m no ordinary man, Elena.”

Suddenly, two more glasses were sat down in between them and Elena looked up from Klaus at their beautiful, blond waitress. “That’s clear to anyone watching.” Even Elena, a human as she was, could taste the want in the woman’s voice.

_What, was she just invisible to her?_

It wasn’t often that she felt jealous. Her romantic life had been a drought between the occasional one night stand. Nothing to get jealous about but that sick feeling was churning in her gut as she saw the way the woman looked at Klaus with candy apple eyes. They were talking about some kind of new brew the crafters were working on and Klaus just oozed charisma. Almost as if he couldn’t help it.

Her hand shot out over the table, grabbing Klaus’s hand. She felt so terribly young then, naked in her insecurity. He smiled at her then, but his eyes were dark. As if the embarrassing thing she felt was the most compelling aphrodisiac for him.

“Are you jealous, Elena?”

“No!” She knew she said too fast for it to feel true. His chuckle brushed up against her skin and made her want to deny it more. “Of course not. Why would I be?”

“It’s okay to admit to me, love.” He asked it like he was asking for the code to her safe.

She stood up too quickly. She hadn’t stood up since they started drinking and she wasn’t prepared for how uneasy her legs would be, gangly like a newborn filly. She reached down to steady herself on the table, but he was there before she could.

“Careful. You’ve cut the wolf loose, sweetheart.” She went for a steely-eyed gaze. “You’re drunk, Elena,” he clarified.

“Hardly,” she teased back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the waitress come back. She yanked roughly at Klaus’s lapels, dragging him off balance and into her. He hastily matched her claiming pace and just as suddenly she broke off from him. “Let’s go home.”

_That seemed to be enough to make the blonde disappear._

As they walked out into the snow, he pulled her under the crook of his arm.

“You seem happy,” she mumbled, shivering. “Why?” She could already feel her headache waiting for her tomorrow.

“You may have a kind, generous and compassionate soul. But you also have a possessive heart, Elena. I am always pleasantly surprised to find out the ways in which we are similar.”

And she knew it was true, but that they shared commonalities didn’t seem to bother her anymore. 


	26. Light My Fire

In the middle of the following week, Klaus surprised her by waking her up before the sun rose with a cup of coffee in hand and a plot behind his eyes.

“You’re priming me to say yes to something,” she said even as she accepted the cup.

“I want to take you on a hike, to the Brekkefossen waterfall.”

“No offense, but you don’t exactly seem like a physical activity kind of guy. What’s with all the hikes?” The look he gave her woke her up more than any coffee ever had. “Okay pervert, not that kind of physical activity.”

“Hurry up, love. I’ll be downstairs waiting.” He leaned down and left a gentle kiss on her temple. She appreciated how being here seemed to dismantle all of her assumptions about him.

* * *

Hours later, she felt miserable with the edges of her pant legs slowly taking on more water, clinging to her legs. She couldn’t seem to get the hang of snowshoes. Where Klaus seemed to glide on top of the white landscape, she kept leaving deep holes behind her with every step.

“You have to displace your weight more evenly, Elena,” he called from ahead of her.

“How do I know you aren’t doing something up there? Creating sneaky holes for me to fall in?”

“That’s not how this works. Here let me show you.”

He double back around to her, grabbing hold of her waist and steadying her. “You could just vamp us to wherever it is you are taking me.”

“That would be cheating. Are you a cheat?”

“I could be.”

“No,” he dismissed, “You are far too moral to stoop to my level.”

When they finally got there, to the waterfall, Elena was exhausted. She’d gotten marginally better, but one wrong step earlier had resulted in her entire leg falling through, soaking her jeans to her butt. Her jacket was warm enough, but she hadn’t packed with this in mind.

“It’s frozen,” her words carried out on an exhale of fog.

“Water tends to do that in winter.”

“I’m just trying to figure out why we are here, Klaus.”

“That’s your problem, Elena. You are looking for a grand gesture behind everything I’ve been doing these few weeks. You’re waiting for me to reveal the answer of how I plan to change your immobile mind. But like this waterfall, I’m just appreciating the view. I’m not asking it to be anything other than what it is right now, a wall of ice.”

“You’re saying I’m stuck in my ways.”

“I said no such thing. You’re very good at jumping to conclusions,” he scolded her playfully.

* * *

When they’d finally returned back at around noon, Elena felt like she may never feel warm again. They did their best, but failed at not tracking snow into the house. Once inside, she had a better appreciation for how cold she was.

“I’ll heat you up some soup while you change, love.” He pulled his coat off, and his shirt clung to his arm muscles while the collar stretched down, revealing part of his flock tattoo.

“Could you help me first? I just got so wet out there. My jeans are going to be hard to get off.”

His tongue slide across his teeth, trying to contain a smile. “Now who’s the pervert?”

“Me,” she said with a grin.

She’d been right, her jeans had molded to her like a second skin. He knelt in front of her as he dragged them down over her hips, thighs, and finally to the ground. Her jacket fell next to him, momentarily distracting him. He stood up and started crowding her space, slowly pushing her to the wall. Her heart rate speeding up excited the beast within him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he brought up his thumb to part her lips. She closed her eyes, anticipating his kiss. He grabbed at her wrists behind his hand, bringing them up and over as he pinned them to the wall above her head. Her eyes shot open in shock and that excited him more.

He used that moment to grind against her thigh with his growing erection, satisfied with her sharp exhale. He held her in place while his other hand ventured down to the junction between her thighs. He deftly pushed the frilly fabric aside, sliding his fingers along her slick core. He teased her clit until she shook, crying for more. He obliged, plunging a finger and then a second inside her as he buried his face at the crook of her neck, drinking up the taste of her skin.

Elena teetered on the edge, trying to maintain control and losing inches of it at a time until she slipped over the cliff. Between his nipping at her neck and his fingers playing at her center, she was lost in the sensation. Her leg slide against him and she moaned, frustrated that he was still wearing clothes when she felt so bare.

“You can’t rush me this time, sweetheart.” He pressed on until she was bucking against his hand, her legs shook so violently she worried that she’d drop if he let her go. Finally, he let her arms go and they fell limply at her side. Her lids seemed too heavy to keep open and she focused on breathing. He leaned into her, holding her up against the wall with his body. He seemed so calm, just taking in the scent of her neediness for him.

When she was ready, she opened her eyes and found his own so close to hers. She smiled, her hands sneaking up to fumble at his belt.

“Are you so hungry for me?”

She nodded, just slightly, too overwhelmed at the sight of him to muster words. He left her side just long enough to strip. Her lips parted, impressed with the sight of him. Anytime she saw him like these, she always marveled at the length of him and wondered how it was possible they seemed to fit together so perfectly.

His hands snaked up under her sweater, pulling it slowly over head. In the blink of an eye, she was on the couch. He laid her on her back, unclasping her bra. He was less gentle below, hearing the rip of the delicate fabric and suddenly there was nothing between her and him. She was hot, wet with desire but frustratingly tight from his constant attentions since they’d arrived. He worked himself slowly into her, dragging out a few times before trying again until he finally fit the entirety of himself inside.

His pace was slow at first before he started building up a rhythm that pleased the both of them. She rolled her hips against him, matching his pace. She liked how whole she felt with him. He bent down to kiss her collarbone, sucking at the skin. Her hands were buried in his mass of hair, encouraging him up to her neck.

“Bite me?”

She wasn’t sure what prompted it, but it felt like such a natural request. His body froze even as his dick pulsed inside her, showing her how the question affected him.

He growled against her throat. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes,” she whispered like it was a dangerous secret.

When he pulled back to look at her, his face had gone dark. His eyes bled black and his fangs jutted out behind his full lips. She reached up, caressing his cheek and he leaned into her hand for a fleeting moment. He pulled her legs up, angling her body against him allowing him more room to plunge further into her. She came quickly, screaming his name. But he didn’t let her come down, coaxing her body into a faster, harder pace. She coasted higher and higher and came again when his fangs penetrated her.

The sensation of him at her neck and between her legs had her doubled. She clawed at his back, desperate to mark him in the way he was marking her.

He stopped drinking from her right before he came, shuddering his pleasure into her. The weight of him collapsed on top of her and she held him in a welcome embrace. She turned her head into his shoulder and before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep with him in her arms.

* * *

Towards the end of the second week, she had found a sled hidden away in a closet, the kind that reminded her of Santa’s sleigh.

“Why do you have this here,” she’d asked.

“That must have been Rebekah.”

“So, you’ve never used this?”

“Hardly,” he scoffed.

“Okay then. Let’s go sledding.”

“You’re joking.”

“Not even slightly.”

As they stood on top of the hill, Elena beamed at Klaus’s glum demeanor. She seemed to revel in his clear distaste for this activity. “You do realize you are asking a centuries old immortal to go sledding, love. I’m no child.”

“You don’t need to be a child to enjoy this,” she retorted as she sat down in the front. “Are you going to join me?”

“I think I’ll sit this one out.”

“Your loss. Give me a push?” And did he ever. He hadn’t realized how little effort she needed to go flying. She screamed in delight as if she didn’t care how wildly she was careening down the hill. As the sled hit an unseen rock, sending her flying, Klaus’s eyes grew wide. He rushed to her side, but didn’t make it in time to catch her before she fell, her forehead connecting with the sharp edge of the sled.

Elena sat up, and tenderly touched her hairline, her finger coming away red with blood. “Ouch,” she grumbled. “Maybe I am too old for this.”

“Or perhaps I gave you too much of a push.” He bit into his wrist and offered it to Elena.

“I don’t need your blood to heal, Klaus. I’ll be fine.”

“Or you could let me help you.”

She sighed a concession and he brought his wrist up to her lips. She’d expected it to be awful. There was a tangy, metallic taste to his blood but it didn’t make her want to gag. She licked her lips clean as he pulled back his wrist, using his thumb to wipe at the blood on her forehead, making sure her wound had healed.

Her eyes followed his thumb, hypnotized as he slipped it in his mouth. Out of all the ways he tasted her, this was the one that fascinated her the most. It was certainly a captivation he picked up on and one that intrigued him to no end.

“I know you are more than capable of taking on this world by yourself, Elena. But the thing is, you don’t have to anymore.”

* * *

Later that evening, after he’d cleaned the blood out of her hair and forehead, she leaned back against him with the steam of the tub rising in her face. His arm came down over her chest, locking her in close to him. Her hand submerged under the water, gliding against his thigh and drew a secret heart on his knee. She smiled with the knowledge that this was her reality. She was no longer dreaming.

The sun was setting on the behind the horizon, shining brightly through the open window. She felt warm and well loved.

“I like this time of day. The sun makes the mountains look even more incredible.” She moved against him purposefully and he groaned with her effort. He moved the heavy weight of her damp hair off her neck and leaned down to kiss along her jaw.

“The time between dog and wolf?” he inquired.

She dragged her eyes away from the sunset and towards him. “Excuse me?”

“When the sun is just at the horizon and the light is so overwhelming that you can’t make out what is in front of you until it’s too late. Is it a dog or a wolf? Friend or foe? By the time you find out, the beast is too close to do much of anything either way.”

“Which are you?”

His laugh vibrated through his chest to her back. He reached down and captured her face with his hand, twisting her body more fully into his. “I’m always the wolf, sweetheart.” She shifted just enough for him to grab her hips and drag her on top, his hands possessively splayed on her waist. “But I’m your wolf, Elena,” he promised.

She chewed on that later, in bed next to him. Watching him sleep was the one time he seemed completely harmless. She ran her fingers lightly through his hair and for the first time wondered what it would actually do to him if she insisted he kill her.

_Would it really affect him the way he claimed if Bonnie couldn’t manage to bring her back?_

Where she was concerned, he really seemed to be unable to risk anything when she was so ready to gamble her literal life.

_Could she really be so cruel as to ask this of him?_


	27. Addicted

In the next few days, the question lingered on her mind. She worked at it like dough, rolling it around and pressing into the perfect shape, willing out an answer.

_How cruel was she to ask this of him?_

She hadn’t considered his reaction when she set her plan into motion. She’d thought that he would be overjoyed to finally get the thing he’d been wanting for so long. Now each passing glance or unconscious need to always be touching her gave weight to his words. She couldn’t guarantee that Bonnie’s magic would work. She had faith in her friend but nothing in the world was promised except death.

* * *

Almost as if sensing her mood shift, he surprised her one day with a trip to a nearby village, Undredal.

“You seem different,” he noted.

“I’ve just had some stuff on my mind.”

“Not re-thinking your time here with me?”

She smiled, a little sadly thinking about he seemed so certain and not at the same time. “I would never.”

“Well, I’ve a surprise for you.” She’d been confused when he parked the car and they ended up on a ferry. The cool wind whipped at her face, stinging her in the most invigorating way. She was glad for the scarf and beanie even as she burrowed her face in the fabric of his grey pea coat.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Just a little village. I figured it was something you’d like to see.” As they made their way closer, Elena was struck by how the town was speckled small against the backdrop of these massive mountains. “You told me once that you enjoyed how the world made you feel small,” he whispered at the back of her neck.

“You remembered.” She pulled back as far as his arms would allow to look up at him, astonished.

“I remember everything said between us.”

She turned to look at him, giving him her full attention even as the view threatened to tear it away. “Do you remember telling me how I was running toward something?”

“I recall.”

“What if this entire time I’ve been running from you, I was running toward you?”

“Were that true, it would be something I’d love to believe.”

“No, really think about it though. This entire time I’ve been doing everything I can to avoid you. To avoid being sacrificed. My family has given up so much. My friends did so much to protect me. And now, here we are. In just over a week, we could be doing the thing that I ran from ten years ago. And I’ve asked you to do it. It just makes me wonder if this isn’t all destiny or something.”

She could feel his hands gripping her arms tighter as she spoke. Through gritted teeth, he finally spoke. “You promised me that you would give me a chance.”

“I am,” she insisted.

“This doesn’t sound like you are, Elena. You sound as though you’ve already made your decision.”

“I told you I would. I’m keeping an open mind. I promise. It’s just, hey!” He’d let her go, turned and walked away. But the thing about boats, is there isn’t really anywhere to go. She soon cornered him despite his efforts to get away from her.

“Klaus, I promise that I’m giving you a chance to convince me out of this. I’ve just been thinking about how weird this situation is. The last few months have made it feel inevitable. It makes me wonder what it really is.”

“And what is that?”

“What if the thing that is inevitable isn’t just the sacrifice, but you and me?”

“You believe us to be destined?”

“How else do you explain it?” She shrugged helplessly, wishing she hadn’t spoiled his mood with her question. 

“I don’t need to explain it any other way. You are my destiny. There is no other explanation for me.” She wished that he sounded this confident all the time.

* * *

Elena was pleasantly surprised by how well Klaus seemed to know her. This village was beautiful and every part of why she enjoyed moving so much. She’d never have seen anything like this if she’d stayed in Mystic Falls. The buildings ached with age and boundless personality. It was one of those places that was so honestly authentic. Modern aesthetics just felt so cold and uninviting to her.

Late afternoon it began to snow and she took that opportunity to hold herself closer to Klaus as they walked down the street. It fell around them, thick and soft, catching in her hair and lashes.

“Have you given much thought to your future, love?”

“How far out?”

“Years? Decades? Centuries?”

“I’ve never even thought months out, Klaus. Thanks to you, my idea of future is just a couple weeks at a time.”

“Well, now thanks to me as well you can use your imagination to think a bit farther ahead.”

“I don’t know that I can. I don’t feel like that’s realistic right now.”

“Why not?” he persisted and she could tell this wasn’t a subject he’d willingly drop.

“I don’t trust the future. I trust right now.” She pulled him in for a kiss, hoping that would derail his line of questioning.

“You trust me?”

“You know I do.”

“You trust that I’d never grow tired of you?”

“Sure.” She didn’t like where this was going and he could tell from her clipped answers. Still, he pressed on.

“So, then why not do this with me? Forever?”

“How would I do that?”

He stopped in the street, forcing her to turn around to look at him. He seemed so achingly beautiful standing there, snow falling on his shoulders bringing out the red of his lips. “You could let me turn you, Elena. Be at my side, always. Forever.”

“Klaus,” she struggled for the right words, “I can’t have this conversation right now.”

“Why not?” Heat began rising in his voice.

“I told you! There are things I still want in life.”

“What could you possible want that I couldn’t give you?! Name it and it’s yours.”

“Can we please just talk about this later?” Her begging tone finally forced him to acquiesce his attack on her.

“Fine. If that’s what you want.”

“Yes, it is.”

* * *

The walk to the restaurant had been short, but the silence between them stretched it out like miles. Her mood had soured especially when she’d thought about how just hours ago she’d been so excited to explore the town with him.

He hardly looked at her, finding just about anything interesting enough to draw his attention away from her. Her jaw was set tight, as if concentrating on the pressure there would keep her from thinking too hard about what he wanted out of her.

A family was seated a few feet and she couldn’t take her eyes off the little girl with bright blonde curls and impossibly blue eyes. Her laughter was more like a scream and it should have annoyed Elena, but it pulled at her heart and deeper. She’d been so careful over the years to avoid an accidental pregnancy. It felt so irresponsible to bring a child into her world and even more so when she thought about what continuing her legacy meant. Most people did their best to ensure their children’s safety. Having a child, for her, was ensuring danger.

Klaus, having seen she wasn’t drilling into him with her harsh gaze, assessed her. Her lips puckered funny as she chewed at the inside of her mouth. He followed her line of sight and his mouth hung open with a realization. “You want a child? That’s what you want so badly. More than me,” he accused.

She looked back at him. If she wasn’t ready to have the ‘turning into a vampire’ conversation with him, she sure wasn’t ready to have this conversation. “Yes, Klaus. I want to be a mom. I want to have a family. That is not a wild thing to want.”

“That is something I can’t give you.”

“I know.” She hated admitting there was something he couldn’t give her. Hated even more the look on his face now.

“That’s why you won’t consider letting me turn you.”

“I never said I wouldn’t consider it, Klaus. I just need some time.”

“How do you plan to achieve this dream, Elena?” His tone was beginning to take on a harsh edge.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about the how of it all. I just know I want it.”

“You’d carry another man’s child?”

“It’s not like I’m planning on sleeping with someone else to get pregnant. There are other options now.”

“Regardless of how you do it, it would still be another man’s baby.”

“Well, I can’t exactly impregnate myself.”

"So, you’re fine with that then.”

“Yeah, what are my other options? You can’t give that to me.”

“If I could, nothing would give me greater pleasure.”

“But you can’t.”

“I know that, Elena!”

“Calm down.” She looked around at the staring eyes of the other patrons.

“I don’t like the idea of you with another man.”

“Oh God. I am not planning on being with another man. I’m not even planning on having a baby. I can barely see it happening so can we please just drop this?”

“But you want one.”

“Yes! I do, okay? It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that it’s something I would want. Oh big surprise! The doppelgänger wants a baby. Shouldn’t you be thrilled? I’d be continuing the Petrova bloodline.”

“What should that matter to me?”

“It’s mattered to you for centuries!”

“That doesn’t matter to me, now! How many times do I have to explain this to you? That’s the very reason we are here now. To convince you not to go through with your foolish plan. Become a vampire. Stay with me forever. Let me protect you.”

“Does it matter to you what I want?”

“Of course it does.”

“What if it isn’t what you want? Does it still matter then? If what I want is to die and come back? To have a baby and be with you? Eventually talk about forever?”

“What are you saying, Elena?”

“What if we don’t want the same things? Can you be okay with that? I’m not one of your paintings. You can’t just start over with me when you don’t like something.”

“I’m aware of that. I’m not trying to control.”

She stared at him, through him. “Could have fooled me.” 

“Perhaps it’s time we return home.” Finally, the venom in her voice forced him to back down.

* * *

That night was the first time she’d cried because of him. Even those months apart, as much as she had missed him, didn’t hurt this much. After she thought he was asleep, she got up and walked out to the balcony wrapped in a fleece. Outside, she allowed herself to freely cry, choking sobs carried away in the wind.

Klaus watched her from the dark corner inside. Her shoulders hunched and shook. Her head hung into her hands. He wanted to go to her, to offer her some kind of comfort. But what would that be? She was right. She wasn’t something he could control or dispose of if she displeased him. He wasn’t sure how to proceed. He was unmoored in her despair.

He steeled his heart and opened the door, quickly broken down by her red face turning to look at him.

“Sweetheart…” he didn’t know what to say. She did.

“Why do you have to keep pushing? You have all the time in the world. Why can’t you just be patient with me?”

“I’ve lived so long without you and every day that you remain human is a day that you can be taken from me.”

“Vampires die too.”

“But it takes more effort.”

“I can’t be rushed. What you are asking is such a big decision.”

“And killing you isn’t?” he countered.

“That's not the argument right now? Ah! How did I fall in love with someone so fucking difficult?” she yelled her frustration at him, launched it like a spear. He froze, preternaturally still. Only his eyes moved, assessing her. “What?” she broke down under his gaze.

“You’re in love with me?”

She softened, the tension and anger housed in her shoulders gone. “Yes.”

“Say it?” It was one of few times he actually requested something instead of demanding it.

“I love you, Klaus. I’m in love with you as difficult you are.”

He held her to his chest, burying his face in her hair. “If I’m difficult then you are impossible and yet there is a depth of love here. You can’t deny that.” And she couldn’t. They went back to bed together, holding onto that love and each other. That there was no real resolution didn’t seem to bother them. Not then.


	28. House Burning Down

Their fight in Undredal had planted a seed between them, taking root and pushing them apart despite her confession. For the first time since they’d arrived, she spend hours to herself either writing or going for walks without him. His need to be around her, to touch her, seemed to have dissipated in the aftermath the next morning. She knew she wasn’t helping the situation by skirting around the edges of his presence, but if he wanted to be stubborn then so could she.

Until a slew of texts pinged her phone from friends and family reminded her of Christmas. She was elated, remembering that people outside of that farmhouse loved her, and felt brave for the first time since the return ferry trip from the small village. In the spirit of the season, she sought him out.

She found Klaus in front of the fireplace, sketch book open but the page empty. His pen tilted perilously forgotten in his hand. He had to be aware of her in the room, but was choosing to ignore her. She could be bravea enough for the both of them.

She leaned down, chin on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his chest. “Look. I’m sorry things have been so weird this week. Our time together has been incredible and I don’t want the month to end with us fighting.”

“Nor do I, but I don’t believe you’ve been giving my argument any worthwhile consideration. You are merely delaying the inevitable. Stringing me along as it were.”

She sighed, walking over to the other side of the couch and sat next to him. She was close but careful not to touch him. “I don’t even know what your argument is. We spent the first few weeks here wrapped up in each other and then last week you spring the vampire question on me. What exactly is your argument for not going through with the sacrifice?”

“I’ve told you that it would destroy me to kill you.”

“And I’ve told you that I’ll come back. Bonnie will make sure of it. She wouldn’t have suggested this if it wasn’t possible. She wouldn’t risk my life on a whim.”

“I could take care of the Travelers for you, Elena.”

She shifted in her seat. “I don’t like the idea of innocent people dying. Look what happened to Adrian. This way is best.”

“You don’t like the idea of innocent people you know dying. There’s a difference.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that when you learn someone’s name, they become important to you. Even if it’s just a little bit. And even just that tiny bit of importance seems to matter to you. But you don’t mind unknowns dying.”

“I do mind!”

“Do you really, Elena? In order to do the sacrifice, I must not only kill you but a vampire and a werewolf. Have you not thought about that at all?”

“No, I guess not,” she admitted.

“Will you be the one to pick them out? Are you cruel enough to sentence someone to death? Two people even. How will you choose? What crime is terrible enough to die for? Will you look them in the eye when you condemn them, letting them know that you are the reason behind their death? Or were you planning to leave that up to me, completely?”

“I get it, Klaus. You can stop.”

“No, love, I don’t think you do. When we return to your home, to the place powerful enough to break the shackles of what my mother called nature’s balance, you will not be standing alone. There will be two others there to stand beside you, awaiting their death. The only difference is they won’t have an escape hatch. Their sacrifice won’t be a willing one. Who will you pick? Will one of the Salvatores stand next to you, waiting to die to protect you? Do you by chance have an enthusiastic werewolf to kill?”

“Stop!” She stood up, hovering over him.

“No! I won’t because you need to realize that you aren’t just asking me to do this. You think this is just between me and you. That John is in a perfect situation to die for you and because of that you don’t actually have to get your hands dirty. I may be the one doing the killing, love, but it’s your hands that will be stained with blood, innocent or otherwise. I wouldn’t have done this if you hadn’t insisted. So, you have to ask yourself if you are able to live while having judged others for death.”

“Why are you bringing this up now, Klaus?” It bothered how accurately he had assessed her. How much she seemed to come up short in that assessment.

“Because I tried to be kind!” He stood up to meet her anger with his own. “I tried showing you what our life could look like together. Just you and I, forever. We could travel, see such wonderful sights and enjoy the other’s company. I thought if I showed you this side of me, that it would be enough. I love you entirely. I could live an inauthentic life if it meant being with you. I thought it would be enough for you too. I was wrong. Now, I’m forced to be less kind.” Slowly, his rage faded. Being this close to her, knowing how his words unraveled her, made him want to reach out to her. Stroke the sides of her arms, trying to comfort her even as he confronted her. But he wouldn’t.

“I was considering it, you know. What it would do to you. If it was something I should be asking. You didn’t have to bring all that up. You make me sound heartless. I’m not a monster,” she insisted.

“Aren’t you though? Aren’t you and I exactly the same? Willing to sacrifice those nameless faces to meet our own goals? The only difference between us is that I know who I am and I’m comfortable with it.”

“I never said I was okay with it. I tried to do everything I could to never impact anyone. I tried to live my life without hurting anyone.”

“An impossible goal for a doppelgänger. If you were truly as compassionate as you claim to be, you would have stayed in Mystic Falls. Waited for me there and sacrificed yourself then. But you used your friends and family and ran. Just like Katarina.”

“Go to hell, Klaus.” She broke free from him and stormed back upstairs. She spent hours by herself examining what went wrong. At what point in their month together had the situation taken such a terrible turn? When, in their argument, had it gone so south for him to compare her to Katherine?

As she left, retreating back into the recesses of the house, Klaus felt like he should be happy. He’d won and winning should feel good. This didn’t feel like winning.

* * *

She felt so alone in the following days. No, not alone. She liked being alone. She felt like an intruder trying to avoid being detected. She’d become a ghost, a shadow of herself. Memories of them on the couch watching the sunset and talking well into the night seemed so far away now.

Their flight to Mystic Falls was tomorrow and she was relieved to see some friendly faces soon even as she was violently taking out her anger on her clothes, shoving them into her suitcase.

“That’s a unique way to free up space.”

She ignored him, continuing to pack.

“I don’t want our last day to be like this, Elena.”

“You have a funny way of expressing that.”

“Please, love. I don’t want this image of you burned in my brain before the sacrifice. I don’t want my last memories of you to be this if the worst should come true.”

“So, you’re going through with it?” She looked back at him, her expression softening.

“It’s clear that this is what you want.”

“You’re respecting my decision?”

“Yes, I am. I’ll even procure the other two necessary components for you. You won’t need to worry about that either. I’ll be the beast for you.”

“Klaus. I don’t know what to say.”

“Tell me you love me. Tell me that you won’t leave my side after this is finished. Tell me that you’ll be with me forever.”

She abandoned her lugged and walked to him, reaching out to cup his face in her hands. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be waiting for you when I wake up. I want your face to be the first one I see.”

“I wish I had your confidence in the witch.”

“I can’t convince you of Bonnie, but I can convince you of us. Trust me?”

“I do.”

* * *

They lay together, sprawled out on the bed, for so long that time had started to take on a different meaning. Her hair fanned out over his chest as he dragged his fingers through the long tendrils. They both regretted the last few days, but both were far too willful to admit it.

“Come with me somewhere, Elena. I want to see the sunset here one last time with you and I know of the perfect place.”

He held her hand even though she lost herself out of the window, driving up the winding mountain roads. It was fine, she could wander as far as she wanted as long as he could tether her to him. When they arrived, her attention snapped back to him. The line he created to hold her sprung tight. The bridge jutted out into the fjord. They had to walk through the tops of trees to get to the end and the view made Elena feel like she was standing over the world.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful out here, Klaus. I love it.”

“I had no idea that you’ve been reconsidering everything. That you’d been taking my feelings into account.”

“I do love you. I want to be with you. That hasn’t changed. And I did think about what sacrificing me might do to you. If I saw another way out, I’d take it. I don’t want to do this to you. It doesn’t make me feel good knowing how this could hurt you.”

“And then I pushed you. I kept pushing. Would anything be different if I hadn’t?”

“Does that matter now?”

“I suppose not.”

Her hands found the railing and she wondered what it would be like to fly out into the abyss. He came up behind her, arms on either side of her, his heart beat at her back encouraging her mind to rise above the clouds. She could soar with him. 

“I never meant to fall in love with you, Elena.”

“Me either.”

“And yet, I did. It felt so inevitable. How drawn I was to you, I justified it as keeping tabs on you so I could kill you later. And yet I’ve spend the last month trying to convince you out of it. The universe has a unique sense of humor.”

“Would you have done anything differently?”

“Not at all. A man could only hope to have such a beautiful undoing.”

“An undoing? That’s what I am to you?”

“Paris was so besotted with his Helen that he risked home and health to have her. I would risk anything for you, sweetheart.”

“He was ruined by his love for her.”

“No, Elena. He was happy and whole. However brief that may be, those feelings are always worth whatever comes next.”

“Then he was a fool.”

“As am I. Your fool.”

The plane ride back home was silent, though they’d both accepted it comfortably. She was still mulling over what he claimed about her. That she was heartless, a monster so ready to kill others as long as she didn’t have to see them as a person first. Maybe, the dark parts she needed to accept in him were the same things she ignored in herself.

His fears were more tangible, her family.

They were both going home and if they could get through the next few days together, she’d show him how worth it all of this was.


	29. Smells like Teen Spirit

_Mystic Falls, Virginia 2020_

Ten days after the New Year. Ten days to come home and see her friends, figure out where her place was with them. Ten days to keep an eye on Klaus.

“Thanks for letting us stay here Damon.” The Salvatore Boarding House was the same as she’d remembered.

“Well I didn’t exactly have a choice.”

“What he means to say, is that we are happy to have you. Both of you,” Bonnie adds, including Klaus in her welcome. Elena isn’t sure if she means it, but she appreciates the effort.

* * *

She brings Klaus to all her favorite places, which really only include the Grille and the lake just outside of town. She’s confronted by how different her world was here, especially when she sees it all through his point of view. She’s been unconsciously making her life on the run small in an attempt to not outgrow her hometown. Despite her best efforts, she’s already too big for this cage.

“I’m not sure what you ever saw in this one pony town, love. I imagine it wouldn’t have been big enough to contain you even if I hadn’t been chasing after you.”

“It was home, Klaus. Believe it or not, I actually really liked growing up here.”

Before he can respond, Damon slides into the booth next to Elena, Bonnie next to Klaus. “The polite thing to say would be ‘I hope we aren’t interrupting anything’, but you understand why that’s impossible to say with you?” Damon’s insults are like puppy teeth, a little sharp but mostly just annoying.

“Be nice, Damon,” Elena warns.

“No worries, love. I’m more than capable of rising above petty barbs by lesser men.”

“Oh an evolved maniac? How refreshing.”

“From what I understand, you don’t exactly have a leg to stand on where that is concerned.”

“So! Bonnie. What’s new in town? Catch me up?” Elena does her best to divert the conversation somewhere nicer.

“Honestly? Not a whole lot. Damon and I occasionally go out of town so I can visit other covens. Mostly, I just teach at Whitmore.”

“How’s that going?”

“Really great. I love it. I’ve even discovered some potential witches without covens. It’s been rewarding to mentor them.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Elena is momentarily distracted by the doors opening, letting in a gust of cold air and with it her other best friend. Caroline is focused on someone in the corner before she catches sight of the foursome. Her head ping pongs back and forth before she decides to come greet everyone.

“Hey guys! Double date?”

“Care!” Elena slides out to give Caroline a hug. “This is Klaus.”

“Oh I remember.”

“Right.”

“Oh! Don’t say it like that! Water off a duck’s back and everything, Hey, look, I don’t want to interrupt anything. Do you think we could meet tomorrow morning for coffee?”

“Yeah, sure of course.” And with the plans set, Caroline made her way back to the corner she’d been eyeing when she first walked in.

“What was that about? Who is she meeting?”

“Stefan, obviously,” Damon answers before Bonnie kicks him in the shin. He grunts and eyes his better half.

“I thought Stefan was out of town?”

“He thought it was best to stay at Caroline’s while you and Klaus are in town,” Bonnie answers before Damon has the chance.

“Why?”

“Is something the matter, love?”

“No, I was just wondering.” His hand reached for hers across the table, drawing in her friends’ attention to the climbing intimacy between the two of them.

The rest of dinner went surprisingly well, at least for Elena’s standards. Damon would likely never warm up to Klaus, but Bonnie seemed to be willing to give him a chance and Elena would take anything her friends were willing to give.

* * *

The next morning, her alarm wakes her up instead of the pattern she’d established with Klaus over the last month or so, with one of them waking up on their own and kissing the other awake. She tried to sneak out of bed, not wanting to wake him before meeting Caroline. She knew that it would make her late and Caroline detested tardiness.

“Where are you off to, sweetheart?” he groaned.

_No such luck._ “I told Care that I’d meet her for coffee, remember?”

“If I say I don’t recall, will you stay?”

“Nope.”

“Well, then have a good chat. Kiss me before you leave?” She walked back to the bed and leaned down to give him a quick peck on the lips. She should have known better. He grabbed her and rolled her over, holding his muscled body above hers. He left a trail of hot kisses along her neck.

“You said one kiss,” she laughed.

“I never specified how many I wanted. I’d never limit myself in such a dreadful way.” He leaned back down, but was stopped by her hands on his chest.

“I really have to go, Klaus. I won’t be gone long, but don’t lock yourself in the bedroom. Go out and get to know Damon and Bonnie? Please? They mean a lot to me.”

“Is it not enough that I’ve agreed to your terrible plan, but now you want me to make small talk? The ways in wish you punish me, Elena Gilbert.”

“You’ll survive.”

She laughed as she left him, groaning into the sheets.

* * *

“You’re almost fifteen minutes late, Elena!” Caroline had already ordered them both drinks.

“I’m sorry, Care. It’s not easy getting away from Klaus.”

“Especially when you aren’t even trying.”

“Very funny. How are you doing? Why didn’t you join us last night?”

“Oh well, you guys seemed like you were on a double date and I didn’t want to fifth wheel you know.”

“I know you were there having dinner with Stefan. Damon let it slip.”

“God! He’s so gossipy. Can’t keep his mouth shut. How old is?” They both laughed after Caroline’s rant. “Stefan just feels weird about seeing you. Well, you and Klaus together. He doesn’t understand what’s going on and I think he feels a little betrayed in a way.”

“We haven’t talked in such a long time, Caroline. I’m not trying to be insensitive, but why does he care still?”

“Elena, you can be really dense sometimes.

“What do you mean?”

Before Caroline could answer, Klaus arrived with a gust of wind. He looked harangued and out of sorts, a wild look in his eyes.

Elena looked at the seat next to her, surprised. Caroline had heard him coming and seemed more annoyed with the interruption.

“Apologies, love, but I cannot be asked to bond with your friends without your presence. If I hear that vampire make one more attempt at some bizarre nickname, I will rip his vocal chords out. It’s really their safety I’m thinking of, so you can’t be too upset.”

“You couldn’t even make it half an hour?”

“Pure torture, Elena. The worst you’ve ever put me through. That I am including the months without you should speak volumes.” His hand reached to rest at the base of her neck.

They ordered more drinks and talked for hours. Elena noted how Klaus seemed more at ease with Caroline than he had last night at dinner and was glad that he at least seemed to fit here.

“You killed me!” Caroline pointed an accusing finger at him, followed with an amused scoff.

“Well, you do seem to have recovered.”

Of all the people that should have hated him, Elena had been concerned about Caroline the most. But her friend’s ability for forgiveness seemed to have expanded exponentially since her transition. Elena wondered if there was something about being a vampire that made them treat violence so cavalierly. Or perhaps it was that with time stretched out so infinitely ahead of them, certain grudges just didn’t seem to matter. Either way, Elena was happy.

“Elena Gilbert,” came a stern voice from behind her. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”

She turned, momentarily bewildered. His mop of blonde hair was now cut short, but he was still the same.

“Matt!” She smiled and gave him a hug. “Look at you. How’s being the sheriff?”

“Good. Big shoes to fill though,” he said as he nodded towards Caroline and she gifted him an appreciative smile in return. “What is he doing here?”

Klaus gave him a sneering gaze, but luckily Caroline intervened, doing her best to explain the situation to Matt.

“Okay, the only thing I ask is that you don’t kill or compel anyone while you are here. This is a safe town now, Elena. I can’t have that changing.”

“Technically, those are two things,” Klaus interjected.

“I promise, Matt. Ignore him. You have nothing to worry about. Hey, is Tyler around? I’d like to say hi to him too.”

“No, he went out west a year ago after…well yeah. But I’ll tell him you said hi.”

Matt said a quick goodbye and Elena had the good sense that Klaus was the reason. She couldn’t blame her friend, but she also found that she didn’t care as much as she thought she would. Though the interruption had broken up the flow of conversation enough for them to realize they’d been at coffee for hours.

Elena hugged Caroline goodbye. She whispered, “Tell Stefan that I’d like to see him, if it’s something he’s up for. Okay? And…thanks for taking care of him.”

* * *

If Klaus thought that Elena had been testing his nerves with Damon, the family dinner she had planned a few days later would be a true test of his love for her.

Jenna, Ric and their newborn Grace had arrived earlier, but wanted to get settled in the rental house before seeing anyone. Elena suspected that Ric had asked for that time to prepare his house to invite Klaus inside. She was sure that there would be weapons hidden in various parts, but she hoped that nothing deadly would go down during dinner.

John and Jeremy, flying in separately, would be arriving together about halfway through dinner. Which was more than fine with Elena. It was easier to walk into the lion’s den when you didn’t have to confront all of them at once.

Ric gave Klaus a glass of whisky and simultaneously, Jenna handed Elena her daughter. She felt awkward, struggling to find the right way to hold the baby.

“Ah, actually Jenna I can make dinner. That might be the safest option.”

“You making dinner? As the safest option?”

“Come on! I’ve gotten a lot better. Ask Klaus.” She looked over to him, sipping his drink.

“You’ve impeccable taste in whiskey, Alaric.” Shockingly, her pseudo-step dad actually laughed.

“What? Seriously? I’m a decent cook now. Vouch for me.” He took another drink to avoid answering her. The child perched on her hip, jutted out, and she fixed him with an incredulous look. He felt like he was looking at his potential future, if Elena got what she wanted, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

“Elena love, I’m centuries old and if there is anything I’ve failed at learning it is when to keep my mouth shut up. Today though, feels like the turning of such tides and I believe I’ve seen the light. So, I’ll just say you look radiant this evening,”

Jenna laughed from the kitchen, joining Alaric. “I can’t believe my own family is siding with such a blatant attack on me.”

By the time Jeremy and John arrived, the four of them were actually getting along. Klaus had managed to charm Jenna though the best Elena could hope for from Ric was a healthy, mutual respect. They seemed to be doing well enough with each other that Elena and Jenna felt comfortable enough to venture into the kitchen for dessert, leaving the men on the couch.

“Okay, he’s not as terrible as I’d imagined.”

“Well, the circumstances now are different.”

“True, but I can see how much he cares about you and you seem happy, not that it ultimately matters what I think. Still, those are fairly persuasive qualities. Ric even seems to tolerate him.”

“Thank you, Jenna. And your opinion? It does matter to me.”

When they walked back into the living room, they were met with a vastly different scene than the one they’d left. Ric and John had Jeremy pined to the wall, her younger brother struggling to get free and not hurt the other men. If he hadn’t been worried about hurting John, he’d likely have overpowered Ric immediately.

Jenna gasped. “What the hell is going on?”

“It seems,” Klaus said from the corner, “Your brother is enraged at the mere sight of me. And here I thought how well we’d been getting on.”

“What are you doing in the corner?” Elena never thought she’d see Klaus cornered and would have laughed if not for the situation at hand.

“It was the best choice. Given your affection for family, I felt it best to retreat and not risk killing anyone you love.”

Elena crossed the living room to Klaus, careful to avoid the eyes following her movement. She stood in front of her lover, blocking part of him from Jeremy who finally tore his sight from the vampire to stare at his sister. “Jeremy, stop. It’s fine. Klaus is here with me. He isn’t going to hurt anyone.”

Klaus’s hands glided up her arms to her shoulders, gently squeezing. That sight seemed to calm Jeremy down just enough, though his breathe was still heaving.

“I think it’s probably smart for Jeremy and me to take our things upstairs. Ric? Will you help him to calm down some?” John looked briefly at Elena and she wished she could make out what it was he was trying to express.

“Well, that was dramatic,” Jenna sighed and then winced as a piercing scream came from upstairs. “I’m going to kill Jeremy. I better go check on Grace.”

Klaus leaned closer to her, his chest cradling her back. “I don’t actually think that went half bad.” She turned around to kiss him when the doorbell rang. “Precisely how many family members do you have, sweetheart?”

“This is it,” she replied as she answered the door. “Ah, hey Stefan.”

“Caroline said you wanted to talk.”

“I said I would want to see you, but that was a couple days ago. I figured you would drop by the boarding house or call or something.”

Stefan tensed as Klaus glided into view. “Who’s your friend, love?” His hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from the door, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“This is Stefan,” she said as she tried and failed to wriggle out from his arms.

“Your high school boyfriend,” he said, sounding far too delighted for her comfort.

“Will you go on a walk with me? Please, Elena. I just want to talk.”

She looked back at Klaus who shrugged. “Are you giving me a say?”

“I’m not asking for permission, but I would like you to be okay with me going.”

He looked Stefan in the eye, who looked back unflinching. “I have nothing to worry about where your affections are concerned.” And with that, she walked out into the night with her ex-boyfriend. 


	30. Drain You

They walk laps around the neighborhood, circling the rental a couple times. Each pass, she looks at the open living room window, framing Klaus. She can only imagine how difficult this is for him and even some of his more off-putting traits are becoming mildly endearing as she catches him watching her from the window.

“Ten years ago you left because of him, now you are back home for the first time and you have him in tow like a lost little puppy.”

“He’s hardly a puppy.”

“I doubt he’s moved from that spot since you walked out here with me. He’s waiting for you to come home like a dog.” The way Stefan said it sounded derisive but it warmed her heart more for Klaus.

“The way you put that reminds me of you.”

“I was never that pathetic.”

“What did you want to talk about, Stefan?” She shifted her hands in her jacket pockets.

“I’m not sure. Everything? Nothing in particular. I just wanted to see you, Elena. It’s been such a long time.”

“Nothing was stopping you from visiting me. The others did.”

“We broke up. I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”

“People break up all the time, Stefan.”

“They get back together sometimes.”

“True,” she hesitated. “And sometimes they become friends.”

“I should have come to visit you, Elena. You’re right.”

“It would have been nice to have seen you.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Of course, I do. Just because we aren’t together anymore doesn’t mean I don’t love you. You’ll always have such a special place in my heart. Nothing can change that.”

“Something did change though.”

“Time.” It was the only answer that felt close to being good enough.

“You outgrew me?”

“I’m saying we outgrew each other Stefan. I got older, became a different person. You were starting to get Damon back, finally. We had different priorities then. We were together, but I felt so alone all the time. I never want to feel alone with someone again. I’d rather actually be alone.”

“And Klaus? How could you even remotely think being with him is a good decision?”

“Stefan, I’ll walk down memory lane with you. I’ll have the closure talk with you because of what you mean to me. I’ll even dip my toes in the ‘what if’ waters. But I won’t talk about Klaus with you. I love him and I won’t justify that to anyone, not even you.”

“How can you be sure that he isn’t using you for the sacrifice?”

Her laugh pierced into the quiet night. “Because I spent an extra month with him while he tried to convince me not to go through with it. Because, despite how absurd it may seem, I know him.”

“How could you possibly know him? You’ve spent less than what? Three actual months with him.”

“You knew me for less time than that before trusting me with everything.”

“That’s different, Elena. I’d gotten to know you before-”

“Before I knew you.” They kept walking without him responding. “I trust him, Stefan. I trust that his feelings for me are as real as mine.”

“He could be compelling you.”

“He’s not.”

“Are you sure about that? Where’s the necklace I gave you?”

“Stefan,” she tried to say his name as gently as possible. “I don’t wear it anymore. I drink vervain in my coffee most days.”

“Do you still have it?”

“Look, I should be getting back inside.”

“Afraid to leave him alone with your family for too long?”

“No, I’m just done and I know he’s inside waiting, probably as patient as anyone has ever asked him. And he makes me feel good. So, that’s where I want to be.”

“Elena.” Stefan made a move to touch her shoulder. “I’m just worried about you.”

“You don’t have to be anymore, Stefan,” she said, shrugging him off.

“I know. I can’t help it though.”

“Well then how about this? You can continue to worry about me and I’ll be honest with you if anything changes and I need help.”

“I can live with that.”

“Oh and Stefan?” she called after him, halfway up the driveway. “He does love me.”

“Okay?”

“Just don’t try to do anything stupid.” Even after all these years, she still knew him.

She walked into the house, pulling Klaus by the hand to crash into an oversized chair with her. She pulled her legs on top of his and curled her body into his shoulder.

“Did you have a pleasant talk with your former flame?” The irritation in his voice read to Elena as normal jealousy over an ex. Neither she nor Stefan had any idea about their extended history in Chicago and how deeply seeing her with his friend affected Klaus.

“I’m really looking forward to leaving town with you after this.” He stiffened at her admission and then pulled her closer, overwhelmed with her love for him. Thoughts of Stefan and her in high school pushed from his mind.

“Where to first, love?”

“I don’t really care. Anywhere you are is fine.”

* * *

The days between that night and the sacrifice are few but she stretches the moments out. Klaus actually seems to get along with her family, even Jeremy makes an effort. John hides away in his room, but there’s nothing new there. The morning of, her father makes his way downstairs for breakfast and starts asking Klaus what his intention is with his daughter. It makes her feel like she is in an odd family sitcom - _My Vampire Boyfriend._

* * *

That night she says goodbye to Klaus while he leaves to prepare with his witch. Bonnie brings her out to just outside of the circle of power to a shed where Bonnie gives her a rundown on what will happen with John and her spirit during the sacrifice. It’s like an inverted wedding day. The groom and bride can’t see each other before the ritual killing.

There’s a knock at the door, John. Bonnie leaves to give them space for this final conversation.

“It’s weird seeing you two together. But I guess at least I know he’ll take care of you.”

“I know you don’t like it, John. But I appreciate you for trying to understand.”

They sat together for what seemed like hours, John’s hands big and swollen from pain medications hold her own. Finally, he talks again.

“I’m sorry for so many things, Elena. I wish I had tucked you in more or read you stories or…I don’t know. Something fatherly. I guess I was just so afraid that you wouldn’t accept me instead of giving you a chance. I shut you out. I regret that so much. I should have fought for whatever kind of relationship you were willing to give me.”

Seeing him there, so sick and sad, moved her and she did the only thing she could think of to show him how much he did mean to her. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug and whispered “I love you, Dad.” She held him until Bonnie came to get her and bring her to Klaus.

“I love you too, Elena Marie Gilbert.” He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Always have.”

“I know.” It was the best goodbye she’d ever gotten.

She entered the clearing and as Klaus walked to her, Bonnie disappeared back into the night without a goodbye.

“Your witch doesn’t like me very much.” His eyes narrowed briefly. She seemed to have been giving him a chance until now.

“Maybe if you called her by her name she’d like you better?”

“Listen, Elena. I want to prepare you for tonight.”

“I know what’s going to happen, Klaus.”

“Not the details. You may see a side of me that you don’t like and I want you to be ready for that. I don’t want you to wake up and find that your feelings for me have been changed by tonight.”

She held her hand up to his cheek. “They won’t. I understand that tonight is a performance.” He grabbed her hand and leaned his face into her palm.

“Not all of it. Two people will die tonight at my hand. It may be orchestrated, but it is also the closest you’ve come as of yet to witnessing my true nature since London.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about that. I’m the one asking you to do this. You’ve been trying so hard to convince me to change my mind. I won’t punish you for anything that happens tonight.”

He turned his face just slightly, kissing the palm of her hand while keeping his eyes on her. “I’ll have to thank whatever gods have blessed me so to have placed you across my warring path.”

“It’s time,” said the witch behind him. Klaus turned and led Elena by the hand to the clearing where two unconscious bodies lay.

“I figured they would elicit less sympathy from you than if I had picked women,” he explained.

She wasn’t sure what that said about him that he had thought about it and she wasn’t sure what it said about her that he was right. It was easier to see herself in another woman and feel that pull of compassion. Klaus situated her on some unseen mark on the ground and when he stepped back, three perfect circles of fire surrounded each of them. As the fire roared, the two men woke up, one screaming in pain as his body fought to contort in unnatural shapes.

“What’s going on with him?” she yelled, nervous.

“His transformation has been slowed down.”

Klaus handed the moonstone over to the witch who threw it into a bowl, sparks flying threatened to light the ground on fire. Her chanting began and soon the fire surrounding the werewolf died down. His eyes turned to Elena with a yellow glow. He tried to run, but Klaus was on him in an instant. He looked back at Elena, eyes widened and pleading as Klaus’s hand plunged into his back, breaking a hole through his spine and ripping out his heart.

As he walked back to the witch, he eyed Elena carefully. Trying to assess her mood, but she was keeping her face too composed for him to glean much of anything.

The second ring of fire died down and the vampire, seeing the werewolf’s futile attempt at escape, rushed the witch only to be intercepted. Klaus picked him up easily, over his head and brought him crashing down into the ground. As he ripped the second heart from its cavity, he glanced back to Elena. Her face remained impassive, unreadable.

He brings the second heart to the witch, who drains the blood into a bowl, splashing it into the fire. A macabre recipe.

As she does, the ring around Elena dies down and he can finally be next to her again, although dreading what is to come. Her knees buckle on instinct, her brain screaming for her to run. It was only then that she noticed the glowing eyes in the distance, too many to count.

“You’ve been so brave tonight, sweetheart,” he said, his hand caressing her hair. He walks around her, half excited and half scared. She seems grounded as he comes up behind her, pushing away her wild mass of hair and leans in close letting his lips brush against her skin. “My little shadow. My eternal night. My Wolf-Kissed.”

She shivers with the feel of him so intimately close, knowing what’s coming next. “What’s going on out there?”

“Your witch instructed me to be dramatic. We have an audience, love. Intrigued by the legend of me, captivated by the power of your blood. The supernatural community is here to watch the beginning of something new.” He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, enough to make her wince and cry out. His hands glide down to her hand, intertwining their fingers. He shifts her hair to the side and the combination of that and the night air send tremors down her back.

When his fangs pierce her skin, it isn’t like that first time. Without the wave of pleasure, she can’t ride out the pain of his bite into something better. She fights the drive to pull away from him, knowing how much it will hurt if he tears more at her skin. She focuses on her breathe or how his arms seem so gentle even as he’s killing her, anything to keep her mind off of the pain.

The edges of her vision go black and she briefly thinks about how this act perfectly caps off how he’d been consuming her since the summer. Her legs buckle underneath her, his arms are there around her, holding her steady as her brain sends frantic signals to her body.

_Run, Fight, Anything!_

Her fingers twitch with the natural desire to stay alive. She tries to bring her hands up to grab a hold of his, but her arms flail stupidly in front of her.

Just before the darkness fully encompasses her vision, she swears she sees people walk out from between the trees. People she recognizes from town that shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t know about this. And just as she thinks they might be real, they recede back into the brush, into the dark where so many other creatures are lurking. Her heart slows to an impossibly slow pace, fluttering to keep her alive. She wishes she could tell it to stop trying as her head spins and she collapses.

Klaus feels the moment she dies as he lays her body gently on the ground. He keeps trying to remind himself that she’ll be awake tomorrow morning. That as permanent as this feels, it just isn’t. She’s made him a promise and the world be damned if she breaks it.

Her blood drips from the corner of his mouth. The neatest he’s ever fed. He could never bring himself to savage her in any way.

He looks out into the dark, to his unseen audience and yells. “I am Klaus Mikaelson! I am the Hybrid! I can’t be stopped!” He thinks he feels different, a vague sense of power or a connection to something deeper in himself. He feels a little disappointed that nothing bigger happened. Was expecting to feel grander somehow.

And then the first bone breaks.


	31. Heart Shaped Box

His bones break and ligaments rip only to stitch back together like a wicked puzzle. He can feel his insides begin to shift, re-arranging themselves to fit into the body he was born to be in. At least part of the time. It’s a pain he’s never felt before, one that he can’t brace against since it is as unpredictable as he is. There is no blow to prepare against, there is only a joint here and suddenly it reappears inches higher on his body.

He claws his way towards Elena, not knowing when or if she’d wake up, but out of a desperate need to be close to her. Suddenly a lancing pain travels from the base of his skull through his spine and he knows this has nothing to do with the magic of what he is but belongs to someone else entirely. As he looks up to see her witch friend advancing on him, his body is thrown violently back away from Elena.

“No! What are you doing? You’re meant to be her friend!” He’s panicked and he can’t quite understand the why of it all.

Bonnie is making headway against him, chanting as the air swells fraught with the combined magic of the night. The earth shifts underneath her, fissuring in her wake. Her eyes bleed into brown irises exploded in a starry night. And Klaus knows he’s drastically underestimated her friend. She is a witch to be reckoned with. Still, he can’t stop trying to inch his way back to Elena’s side. She becomes his only goal.

“And that’s exactly why I’m doing this!” Bonnie screams through the night air. “I’m protecting her! I’m protecting all of us!”

The weight of the magic bears down on him and he turns his head to the side, seeking out his own witch for help. He sees her just in time to watch Damon creep up behind her. His hands on either side of her face easily snap her neck. Her body falls to the ground in a sickening heap, the angles contorted into a bizarre sculpture.

It dawns on him that they must have been planning this for a while. It is a stomach-turning to imagine that this was hidden underneath their pleasant smiles as Elena coaxed them all to get along.

Stefan emerges from the woods and leans into the wind, struggling to get to Elena’s body. Klaus feels like he is in an impossible race. Were he even to make it to her, he’s unsure if he has the strength to leave with her. Still, he continues forward, the vine-wrapped muscles of his arms refusing to fail him. His resolve is impressive, but it is no match for this trap her friends have set.

His former friend reaches her first, kneeling down next to her. He checks her pulse, but Klaus already knows that she’s dead. He felt it the moment she left her body, the unnatural stillness of her flesh. He watches, helplessly, as Stefan picks her up. Holds her tight to his chest and strokes her hair back from her face. Klaus knows she doesn’t belong there no matter the look in Stefan’s eyes. Maybe once long ago, but not anymore.

“No! Put. Her. Down!” He roars into the night, his throat choking to get the words out as if maybe this plea will do anything helpful. “I will tear you limb from limb!” He tries to yell again, but he can feel his vocal chords tight and his throat collapsing in on itself. For the second time in six months, he watches helplessly as another man leaves with her. Only this time he knows with confidence that this isn’t what she wants. It enrages him more.

The gears in his head are already working on the various ways he will punish her friends, her objections to it all be damned. He did his best to be what she wanted him to be. He fell into line. They were the ones to cross it and they’d be shown no mercy.

“You are all making a grave mistake!” he yells into the wind and he can feel the tight chords snapping with his effort. He’s grasping at straws trying to figure out how to stop them. Stefan turns without looking him and leaves with Elena, her head bobbing carelessly over his arm.

Suddenly, he feels firm hands cover his ears. He tries to turn around to see who is touching him, but his movement only lends itself to the action. His neck snaps and his vision goes dark.

Jeremy stands over Klaus and drops his head without concern. The winds begin to die down as the three remaining traitors come together.

“What now?”

“Stefan is bringing Elena back to the boarding house. She should be coming around by morning.”

“And him?” Jeremy points at Klaus, prone on the ground. “He’ll come for her. Despite what he is, he does love her. His version at least. You’ve just drawn a target on your backs.”

“Not just us, little Gilbert. You were here too.” Damon interjects.

“I made sure he didn’t see me, Damon. I’m not an idiot.”

“We’ll have time! Once he wakes up, he’ll be forced to transform. We’ll have at least a day, maybe more. I’m not sure how effective the spell will be on a hybrid.” Bonnie seems annoyed and drained.

“She might not forgive us for this,” Jeremy warns them.

“That’s something I’m willing to risk.” Without even a passing glance at Klaus, Bonnie leads the two men out of the clearing and into town.

* * *

The early sun shines on his face and his jeans are covered in morning dew when he finally comes back, like a drowned man hacking and spitting. He fiercely searches the clearing, but the only bodies near him belong to the witch, werewolf, and vampire.

“Elijah?” he asks through a cough as he spots a suit at the tree line. His brother walks carefully to him, adjusting his cuff links with each step.

“Tell me Niklaus, how does it finally feel to accomplish a century’s long goal? Hopefully you have others. It would be such a shame to live a purposeless life for the remainder of your existence.”

“Why are you here? I thought you’d be halfway around the world by now with our un-daggered siblings?”

“I thought it best to wait. Set them up for a successful reintegration into this new era.”

“Ever calculating the best plan, Elijah. Afraid they will be as cross with you for letting them stay daggered for so long?”

“Actually, I wanted to wait for you. I want you to be there when I wake up our brothers and sister. I want us to be a whole family again. And I wanted to make sure Elena was safe first before introducing…more chaotic elements.”

“You still factor me into those plans? In your quest to reunite us all?”

“Yes, after seeing how you were with Elena it’s made me re-consider some things. Niklaus? Precisely where is the lovely Elena? I thought she’d be with you.”

“They took her. Ripped her from my arms.”

“Who took her?” Despite their tension, where she is concerned they are both firmly on the same side.

“Her friends, so called. The witch has more power than I’d given her credit. Likely the fuel behind every false smile was the knowledge that they’d try to best me. But time is on my side.” His voice was low, with the promise of violence.

“You do tend to underestimate most people around you. Where did they take her?”

“That I do not know Elijah. I’ve just come to. Wherever she is, I’m certain she’s letting them know exactly how she feels. She wouldn’t have wanted this. She wanted me to be with her after.”

“As much as it pains me to say this, I know that’s what she would have wanted.” Elijah thought back to London and those letters she wrote even as he tried to seduce her.

“It’s not enough! I spent over a week trying to do exactly what she wanted. I was pleasant. I didn’t kill anyone. I was on my best behavior. Look where that’s gotten me. Here, in the woods, without her. They’ve got the wolf by the ears and they are about to find out how dangerous I can be.”

“Calm down, Niklaus. You’ll find her.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ll help you. I promise it.”

Elijah leaned down and held his hand out, pulling Klaus up to his feet.

“Why would you help me?” Klaus eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you were in love with her?”

“Perhaps it’s a different kind of love now. And you are still family, Niklaus, in spite of everything. Family is forever. If she is to be your salvation, then I would see you have it.”

“You don’t hate me?” The question chokes with vulnerability, fear and hope and it’s the exact reason why Elijah never gives up on Klaus. At the end of the day, at the end of the world, they will still be brothers.

“Sometimes, but it never seems to last long does it?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Come. Let’s go get your girl.”

But Klaus’s pain wasn’t over. The snapping and cracking he’d begun last night had come back in full force. Last night, he leaned into the agony as hard as it was. Welcomed his destiny with open arms. This morning it was being forced on him and he struggled through it, calling out for Elena and Elijah.


	32. Half Moon

The spell forces him to spend three days as a wolf. A great loping beast haunting Mystic Falls. Bonnie had meant to keep in this form as long as she needed to protect Elena but if they’d expected him to take it calmly, they were wrong. True animal attacks spiked and they weren’t just a cover story anymore. The residents of Mystic Falls feared going out at night after a slew of savaged bodies surfaced in town. Matt was exasperated and knew he was being kept out of something by his former classmates, but no matter how hard he tried they insisted on ignorance.

Klaus circled the boarding house hoping to catch a Salvatore outside long enough to bite. Just one quick nip was all he needed for a painful ending. He didn’t even care at this point if it was Stefan or the annoying one. Old friendships, even those forgotten, no longer mattered to him.

On the fourth morning, he woke up in the woods. Naked and covered in blood, his brother standing over him with clothes. The sun feels good on his human skin. It means he can finally get to some answers and hopefully to her. Each time he tried to shift back, it was like trying to open a sealed door. He could feel it giving but only just barely. The idea that he may never become a man again had occurred to him. A terrible curse to spend an eternity as a wolf.

“You’ve been like this for three days.” Elijah throws him his pants first. “It was becoming tiresome waiting for you to come back.”

“I remember. All of it.”

“You’ve been busy, Niklaus.” Then, a shirt.

“I had no other way to express my immense displeasure.”

“It’s not that different from how you express it as a man.” Finally, his brother holds on a black coat for him, letting him slide his arms through it.

“Have you seen her? Is she still hidden away with the Salvatore brothers?”

“No, she’s gone.”

“Gone? What did they do?”

“Apparently nothing. She was angry, obviously, and left. Her friends don’t know where she went just that she left in the middle of the night.”

“My girl,” Klaus grinned, proudly.

“Yes, indeed. Look Niklaus. I feel the need to apologize.”

“For what?”

“I’ve had a few days to contemplate this and I thought before in Venice that you were corrupting Elena. I didn’t see the depths of her feelings for you. That she would leave her friends and family, well it means something. I didn’t want to see how she felt, selfishly.”

“She’s not as innocent as you’d like to pretend. I can’t corrupt her any more than she already is.”

“I’m not sure I can completely agree with that point.”

“She’s a complex woman, Elijah. She’s not a young girl looking for a savior. She isn’t Tatia.”

“I can see that she isn’t her.”

“I love her as you loved them. No one believes me. Sometimes, not even her.”

“Be patient with her, Niklaus. She hasn’t loved anyone new in such a long time. She might need some practice. And you, well...”

“Did you give her the same advice about me?”

“No, she’s sure about her feelings for you. She’ll never admit it, but I’m sure there is a small part of her that wonders why you chose her.”

“I’ve done nothing but show her my devotion including and up until the other night.”

“I know. It doesn’t make much sense does it? Insecurity, such a human feeling. How could you possibly relate?”

“Are you attempting a point, Elijah?”

“Are you resonating with something I said?”

“Is this how you felt about Tatia? Katerina?”

“Yes and no. Katerina was an attempt to feel what I felt with Tatia. She was treacherous though where Tatia was painfully earnest. A lesson I’ve learned and am repenting for.”

“What do you make of Elena?”

“Oh, she is treacherous too. In her own ways. Though her reasons are as honest and hopeful as anything Tatia ever did. She is unique. They all are and also terribly similar.”

“Elena is the best of them.”

“In your eyes, perhaps.”

They sat together, quietly. Each brother contemplating the woman they loved, both bearing the same face but worlds apart. Finally, Elijah broke the silence. “I would apologize for Katerina, but seeing how different you’ve become with Elena I’m inclined to ask for a thank you.”

“Excuse me? You cannot possibly be serious.”

“If she hadn’t escaped, you wouldn’t have spent the last five hundred years seeking her out. Who’s to say that if you had seen Elena, you would have even spoken to her?”

“I would have!”

“Doubtful you would have even looked twice at her. Really, if you think on it, I played matchmaker in a way.” There was a flash of laughter in Elijah’s eyes and Klaus’s mouth broke into a grin.

“I will find her again, Elijah.”

“We will,” he corrected.

“Actually, I might be able to help with that,” a soft voice said, emerging from the trees. The two men stood up and something about the way they held their shoulders make her scream out. “Wait! I’m on your side. Well, I’m on Elena’s side and you happen to be there too. So yay! Team Elena.”

“Speak then,” said Elijah, getting straight to the point.

“She left the next night after the sacrifice. She texted me to come pick her up and told me everything. I’m so sorry,” she explained, emphasizing the apology. “I know Bonnie meant well, but things just got out of control. You have to understand that.”

“Tell me where she is then.” urged Klaus.

“Well, the thing is that I can’t tell you.”

“Why is that?”

“She couldn’t tell me. She tried! But she just couldn’t.”

“What happened, Caroline?” Klaus demanded.

* * *

_Two Days Earlier_

Elena woke up and immediately recognized Stefan’s bed, his room, his collections. Thankfully, no Stefan. She wondered if he was still hiding at Caroline’s and why she’d been left in his room of all places. She pulled on a robe and walked downstairs, a strange pit in her stomach that reminded her of all those months ago. The first night she ever slept, just slept, with Klaus. And then woke up to find him gone.

_Why hadn’t he stayed with her? Surely, he would have wanted to be there when she woke up?_

When she walked into the dining room, she saw the four of them whispering in a tight circle. Stefan, Bonnie, Damon and Jeremy huddled together and broke apart when she cleared her throat. “Hey, um, where is Klaus? He said he’d be with me when I came back.”

“He’s not here.” Damon was the first to break off from the circle to walk towards her.

“That’s not really an answer, Damon. Obviously he isn’t here. So, where is he?” A smile flitted across her face, as if being pleasant could conjure up Klaus.

“Elena, we wanted to get you away from him. Just for a bit.” Bonnie looked nervous.

“What? Why? Did he change last night?” Jeremy wouldn’t even look her in the eye. “What happened?”

“We just wanted to make sure he wasn’t compelling you. We were just trying to keep you safe,” Stefan seemed more confident in himself than her brother. His words came out more steady than even Bonnie’s had.

“I told you the other night that I was on vervain. Or you could have tasted my blood for that if you didn’t believe me. What did you do?” Her voice was hitching higher in her throat.

“Oh come on! Elena! He is an Original. We had to get you away from him. The guy is bad news and you haven’t been making the best decisions lately,” Damon scoffed. That the Salvatores were the only ones who didn’t reek of guilt spoke volumes to her. Growing up hadn’t made them look at her like any more of a woman. They’d always treat her with porcelain control.

“No, you didn’t Damon because I didn’t ask to be taken away from him. In fact, I asked to stay with him. Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“Look, just answer a few of our questions and then we will go find him okay?” Stefan, always the reasonable sounding one.

“No! I don’t need to answer your questions. Not when this feels like you kidnapped me.” Her voice rose a few octaves as she backed away from them.

“Elena, we just wanted some time alone with you. He’s like your double. Always there. No one could get any time alone with you.” Bonnie sounded so gentle, but this was a rage that Elena couldn’t come down from no matter how her friend pleaded.

“Stefan managed it. You know, most people just ask when they want something instead of plotting and scheming. Jeremy, are you seriously siding with them?”

“I’m not siding with anyone. Bonnie gave me a decent argument and I just wanted to find out for myself. It just seems so weird that you are in love with him after only a month. We only wanted what was best for you.” It was that last phrase that reverberated in her head. She didn’t know that coming home would mean that everyone would treat her like they knew what was better for her than she did. She eyed Jeremy in his coat, the one he wore when he hunted. She reached for a half empty bottle of whisky from the counter and smashed it on the ground.

“Hey! Crazy pants, what the hell?”

She ignored Damon and stormed toward Bonnie, hoping Jeremy would stop her. When he moved in front of her she took a long step forward, her foot pining his to the floor, and pushed into him with the sharp edge of her elbow. They went tumbling to the ground, her robe flying open, and she had just enough time to search a pocket.

Stefan was next to her in a flash, helping her up and she clutched the sides of her robe together, feigning mortification at her exposure. “Elena, just calm down. We can talk this out.”

“We did, Stefan. When you interrupted family dinner. Was that not enough?”

“Elena, maybe you could just explain to us what is going on with you two?” Jeremy grunted as he propped himself up.

“I met him at the end of May last year,” she admitted, “And it took less than a month for me to stop trying to find a way to leave him. I do love him, Jer. He isn’t compelling me. I know it doesn’t make sense from the outside and I’m sorry that it makes you so uncomfortable, but that doesn’t give you the right to make decisions for me.”

“See, Elena that might have changed my mind.”

“Would it have, Jer? You could have had this conversation with me at any point. You were just so ready to think the worst of him. You hate them. You told me yourself. It’s not like I can just casually bring him up in conversation.”

“You could have tried.” He sounded just like he did when he was a teenager.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I could have talked to you about this more, but you are so wrong for this. This feels terrible. Bonnie, did you plan this from the start when you suggested doing this with John? At what point did you decide you knew what was better for me?”

“Come on, Elena. That’s pretty low.” Damon moved to stand in front of Bonnie, who held herself tight.

“You’re one to judge about what is low and what isn’t.”

“Elena, I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure we could trust him.” Bonnie was close to tears now.

“Look, I don’t want to waste any more of my time talking about this. I have to go find him. He’s going to be worried and I’d rather explain this to him than leave him out there. He’s likely trying to kill one of you as we speak.”

Before she could even grab her coat, Damon was in front of her, holding her roughly by her free arm. “No! You’re not going anywhere. Not after we made such a huge effort to rescue you last night.”

“God, Damon. Do you hear yourself? Have you been listening to me at all? Let me go!” He refused and she tried again. “Damon, let me go or else.”

“Or else what?” He scoffed with all the hubris of the powerful and immortal.

Elena palmed at one of Ric’s newer crafts, a jelly-like orb filled with concentrated vervain. She unclasped her robe, exposing her chest to everyone. Damon was sufficiently distracted from noticing her arm swinging wide. Her hand connected to the side of his temple, the jelly membrane bursting open and the vervain covering the side of his face. She stood over him, listening to the sounds of sizzling skin and his screams with a triumphant satisfaction. She hears Bonnie crying out and Stefan moving somewhere behind her, but her eyes are locked on Damon. “Or else I’ll make you let me go,” she whispers, knowing he can hear her.

Stefan grabs her arms and pins her to his chest, her robe shifting open even further makes her feel more exposed now that it isn’t her choice. She struggles, but knows he’s got too good of a hold on her.

Damon staggers up, his skin an angry red despite his wounds already beginning to heal. He rushes to meet her, face to face. His hands clamped down on her cheeks and his pupils grow capturing her gaze. “You will not go find him. You will not seek him out. You will not tell him where you are. You will not have anyone tell him where you are. You won’t-”

Before he could finish whatever else he wanted to compel her to do or not to, Jeremy was at his throat, dragging him away from her and breaking their eye contact.

“Hey! Don’t fucking compel my sister, dick!”

Elena stumbled back into Stefan, tears in her eyes and a cry hitched in her throat. She regrets trusting them enough to not wear vervain after her blood had been drained last night. “You asshole.” Her lip is still trembling. When Stefan lets her go, she runs upstairs.

“Elena!” Bonnie called after her and then quickly turned on her boyfriend. “That wasn’t the plan, Damon! We were just supposed to make sure he wasn’t taking advantage of her.”

Damon shrugged watching Jeremy and Stefan leave. “Did you even see what she did to me?”

“She gave you a fair warning. Maybe you should have listened,” Jeremy says, standing at the doorway.

“Someone around here has to be willing to be the bad guy from time to time,” Damon complains.

Stefan looked back, “No one needed that from you, Damon. She’s never going to stay now.”

* * *

_Present Day_

“I would like very much to murder that man.” Klaus cracked his knuckles.

“Get in line. I’m sure Elena is at the head of it.” Caroline got on with Damon for Stefan’s sake, but only tolerated him at best.

“So, what happened then?”

“Stefan came home and told me what had happened. Then Elena texted me asking to meet up. She had her bags packed and wanted a ride to the airport.”

“Did she tell you where she was going?”

“No, I think she tried but it wouldn’t come out. She just said she’s going somewhere she knew you’d find her. Somewhere you’d like.”

“Do you know where that is, Niklaus?” Elijah finally interjected.

“It could be so many places.” He sighed, resigned to follow after wherever she may lead. 


End file.
